Damien Hirst

Julian Spalding on Damien Hirst:

'Damien Hirst isn't an artist. His works ... have no artistic content and are worthless as works of art. They are, therefore, worthless financially. [...]

'I've coined the term Con Art, short for contemporary conceptual art and for art that cons people. Contemporary conceptual art? All art is a concept in the sense that it's the product of thought. But all art must also be a creation. You have to be able to see art; it can't just be a projected thought. That's how the emperor got dressed; his expensive robes were all in the minds of people around him, when in reality he had nothing on. [...]

'The trouble with found objects is that you can't tell just by looking at them what the person who put them in front of you is trying to tell you unless he or she has altered them in some meaningful way. Nor does the act of placing something in an art gallery, whether it's a stack of bricks, a bin bag or an unmade bed, automatically make it a work of art, any more than framing a canvas with paint on it automatically makes it a painting.'

See Hirst here and here. Read Julian Spalding here. What's your opinion?