New Religion is an exhibition by one of the world’s most significant contemporary artists, which was presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje from 22 June – 11 August 2016. More then 13.000 people visited the exhibition.
This exhibition explored the complex relationship between mortality and faith, and the fascination with science and technology; themes central to Damien Hirst’s longstanding career as a thought-provoking and at times controversial artist. The forty-four silkscreen prints, and four sculptures that make up New Religion work like a fresco cycle – moving from the Creation of the World, through the Stations of the Cross and towards the Last Judgement. The prints surround an altarpiece with a cedar cross studded with gem-like pills, a child’s skull, a large carved marble pill, and a heart wrapped in barbed wire and pierced by needles and razor blades. Hirst’s vision is a marriage of the sacred and the profane, a contemplation of the fragility of life and the quest for longevity.
