Qatar Inspires Pilgrims for Hajj and for Damien Hirst

Condé Nast Traveler
By Susan Hack

COURTESY QATAR MUSEUMS AUTHORITY

Eyes are on the Middle East this week as the Hajj—the holy pilgrimage to Mecca undertaken by Muslims from all over the world—hits its peak. Interestingly, the religious event is coinciding with an art peak in the region as well, some of it insipired by the Hajj itself. This week, Qatar's Museum of Islamic Art launched an exhibition exploring the history and rituals behind the holy journey and nearby, you'll find the world's largest Damian Hirst retrospective and shows by international artists Mahmoud Obaidi and Francesco Vezzoli. [link]

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Spilled Candy by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a Memorial to Love

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

UNITED KINGDOM---Blain|Southern art gallery in London brings legendary Damien Hirst together with icon of "Queer Spirituality," Cuban-born Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) in "Candy" (Oct. 16-Nov. 30). While Hirst's monumental works have been previously been featured on A&O, it's Gonzalez-Torrez "Untitled" (1992) that makes this a particularly noteworthy show for A&O readers. It's a unique sculpture made of candies individually wrapped in variously colored cellophan, and copiously piled in corners or spread across the floor. The installation changes, as does life with the space and time. The spilled candy is a metaphor, or religious memorial for the loss of his life-Partner Ross. Like the new film "Gravity" the work is also a message about survival, and learning to "let go."

BLAIN | SOUTHERN: "Candy: Felix Gonzalez-Torres | Damien Hirst," 4 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1BP; +44(0)20-7493-4492; blainsouthern.com.

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Damien Hirst's Monumental Addition to the World of Islamic Art

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By CAROL VOGEL

Image courtesy of the Blog of the Courtier

QATAR---Called “The Miraculous Journey,” it consists of 14 monumental bronze sculptures, by the British artist Damien Hirst, chronicling the gestation of a fetus inside a uterus, from conception to birth, ending with a statue of a 46-foot-tall anatomically correct baby boy. Even for a Persian Gulf country that is aggressively buying its way into modernity, this installation takes official acceptance of Western art to a new level. “To have something like this is less daring than having a lot of nudity,” said the sheikha, interviewed on Monday morning in her office at the Museum of Islamic Art, a modern, sun-filled space with sweeping views of the gulf. “There is a verse in the Koran about the miracle of birth,” she said. “It is not against our culture or our religion.” [link]

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