damien hirst discusses newport street gallery ahead of october opening

damien hirst discusses newport street gallery ahead of october opening
image © kioyar ltd, photo by yuki shima

set to open in october 2015, newport street gallery is the realization of damien hirst’s long-term ambition to share his diverse collection of work with the public. located in south london, the building has been designed by caruso st john architects and has been under construction for over three years. situated in close proximity to the river thames, exhibition space will span five buildings, hosting both single artist and group shows.

the gallery’s inaugural show will be ‘power stations’, a solo exhibition of paintings by british abstract artist john hoyland. this will be the first major exhibition devoted to hoyland since 2006, and will include paintings from hirst’s collection, dating from 1964 to 1982. the exhibition will span all six of newport street’s galleries and will be on display from october 8, 2015 until april 3, 2016.

the museum is located in lambeth, south london
image © kioyar ltd, photo by yuki shima

in addition to hoyland, the collection includes works by francis bacon, banksy, tracey emin, richard hamilton, jeff koons, sarah lucas, pablo picasso, richard prince, haim steinbach and gavin turk, as well as a number of young and emerging artists. it also features indigenous artists from the pacific northwest coast, including reg davidson, robert davidson, james hart and don yeomans, as well as natural history specimens, taxidermy, anatomical models and historical artifacts. the collection has previously been the subject of major group exhibitions at the serpentine gallery, london (2006) and the pinacoteca agnelli, turin (2013).

exhibition space is partly contained inside industrial victorian structures
image © kioyar ltd, photo by yuki shima

‘I’ve always loved art and art deserves to be shown in great spaces, so I’ve always dreamed of having my own gallery where I can exhibit work by the artists I love,’ explained damien hirst ahead of the museum’s opening. ‘I believe art should be experienced by as many people as possible and I’ve felt guilty owning work that is stored away in boxes where no one can see it, so having a space where I can put on shows from the collection is a dream come true.’

a spiral staircase connects the multilevel program
image © kioyar ltd

‘sometimes I still can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to actually own work by some of the artists who first inspired me and made me want to become an artist – like picasso or francis bacon – but my favorite works by far are those by my contemporaries, and I definitely feel a responsibility to share them as much as I can,’ hirst continued. ‘newport street is an incredible space with an amazing sense of history, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to wear a curatorial hat for a change, I couldn’t be happier’.

john hoyland 9:11:68, (1968)
image © the john hoyland estate, photo by prudence cuming

the gallery spans a total of 37,000 square feet (3,437 square meters), and includes a restaurant and shop. its construction has involved the conversion of three listed victorian buildings, which were purpose-built in 1913 to serve as scenery painting studios for the booming local and west end theater industries. after being bombed during world war two, one of the galleries was rebuilt as a barrow-making workshop that supplied london’s flower-sellers.

the project has been designed by caruso st john architects
image courtesy of caruso st john architects

two new additional buildings have been constructed at either end of the existing three, creating a gallery that spans half the length of the street. one of the central galleries reaches a height of 11 meters, while the roof of the tallest building has been specifically designed to allow for the installation of large sculptures.

the 37,000 square foot gallery includes a restaurant and shop
image courtesy of caruso st john architects

the scheme includes a variety of exhibition spaces
image courtesy of caruso st john architects

the gallery’s inaugural show will be ‘power stations’, a solo exhibition of paintings by john hoyland
image courtesy of caruso st john architects

construction has involved the conversion of three listed victorian buildings
image courtesy of caruso st john architects