Damien Hirst (b. 1965)

Damien Hirst often references Christian religious art and iconography. The title of this screenprint, Deus, deus meus, is a quotation from Psalm 22:1 in the Hebrew scriptures, 'Deus Deus meus respice me quare me dereliquisti' (O God, my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me?) but are more widely known as the words spoken by Jesus Christ from the cross in the Christian Passion narrative. The arrangement of patterned butterfly wings references the stained glass of Europe's great cathedrals and the entomologists' specimen cabinet - presenting science as the new, secular religion.