“Did you see that?” he asked her at Gagosian Gallery, the one on 24th
Street, on January 12 at one of the 11 openings worldwide, on that very
day, for one single exhibition, “Damien Hirst The Complete Spot Paintings
1986–2011.”

“No.”

The 3 NY shows

For weeks the fine art community had been abuzz over this event, some
intrigued, others decrying what they deemed to be a huge publicity stunt.

“This is it?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “They really are very well-done paintings.

“Agreed, and incredibly complex and difficult to make given the plotting of
all the spots and colors not to repeat. But is that all there is?”

“What else could there be?” he asked.

“Well, the adumbration of the grand scale of this exhibition created an
audience expectation based upon multiplicity and simultaneity. Arriving,
what one perceives, while virtuosic, is not visibly, esthetically or
conceptually monumental, or even indicative of the fulfillment of that
expectation or wish…”

“English, please!”

as seen on 24th street

“We can only see one show at a time,” she said.

“And not a glimpse of Hirst himself...” he mused.

They couldn’t help but wonder of Damien Hirst was somewhere behind the scenes, chucking to himself, “I made you look.” And possibly shop, the Gagosian Galley has Spot-related items for sale at several locations.

“Want a Spot clock?” he asked.

“Do they have candy dots? Or games?”

“At the opening on 24th Street I pointed to one of the paintings,” said
Margery Newman, “and told my friend that it looked a lot like my Twister
mat. He had no idea what I was talking about, but I'm going to put it on my wall.”

Photo credit Margery Newman © 2012

Even in the last minutes the gallery was packed, with even more people
arriving, as he and she headed for the door.

“But, without all the hype,” she asked, “would we have seen all 3 New York shows today?

“Hmm, or paid such close attention to the paintings? “

Probably not.

So is the Great Spot Show of 2012 something that only exists in the
anticipation, a Fiji Mermaid of the mind?

“A series of intricate and mentally challenging paintings,” she asked,
“Going strong for 25+ years, all the ‘same,’ yet no 2 alike?”

He looked back.

“That’s history,” he said.