Damien Hirst says financial crisis will stimulate artists

The global financial crisis is not such a bad thing if you are an artist, according to multi-millionaire British artist Damien Hirst.

Mr Hirst's biggest exhibition of his works opened in Ukraine last Saturday and runs until September 20.

"I think for artists, it's always easier to make art in bad times, sadly. It's a lot more difficult than when times are good to make art," Mr Hirst said.

"People are not buying art in the way that they were. But maybe that's a good thing. The reason why you make art is not financial... It's not about how much something is worth or how much it costs, it's about whether it's good or not."

Mr Hirst's exhibit in Kiev, entitled Requiem, has more than 100 works produced between 1990 to 2008 and is on display at a gallery owned by Ukrainian industrial magnate Viktor Pinchuk.

It includes his world-famous pickled sharks, the corpse of a cow suspended from a rope, its entrails lying beneath it alongside banknotes, and the severed head of a cow covered in live, buzzing flies.

The focal point of the exhibition, as the painter turns back to painting from sculpture, are a series of skulls.

A diamond-encrusted skull by Hirst fetched €75 million in 2007, but it was a private transaction and the fact that Mr Hirst was part of the group of investors who bought it raised questions about its true value.

Another featured work, a sculpture in silver entitled St Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain, depicts the saint having just cut off his entire skin with scissors.

Art, Mr Hirst said, is surviving for now. Sales of his works at auction had brought in "lots of money".

In September last year he wildly exceeded expectations when he sold 218 items for the record-breaking price of €123 million, considered an indication at the time of the art market's resilience in the face of a financial market downturn.

"Whenever you look at a painting on the wall you're not really thinking of that. You're thinking about how great it looks."

But even artists had to think of where the money would come from to keep on producing.

Mr Hirst said he was pleased to put on the exhibition in Kiev, where there was "a lot of excitement about contemporary art," with long queues often forming outside showings.

"I like the saying that we're here for a good time not a long time," he said. "So we should enjoy it."

But he acknowledged that the show, as in other countries, might not be to everyone's taste.