In Two Garudas, 2017, Damien Hirst reimagines the Hindu deity in an ornate sculpture just under three feet high. Cast in silver with intricate paint details, the work features twin garudas, legendary mythological creatures often shown in eagle-like form that are a symbol of protection and courage. An important example from Hirst’s ambitious Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, Two Garudas is one of the first sculptures from this series to come to auction.  

Hirst’s monumental exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable was first shown at Palazzo Grassi and Punta Della Dogana during the 2017 Venice Biennale. The widely discussed exhibition was a triumph for its unprecedented immersive concept, a fiction devised by Hirst revolving around an invented 2008 discovery of a colossal maritime wreckage off the coast of East Africa. Hirst’s ambitious project asked viewers to suspend their disbelief, immersing themselves in the Wreck of the Unbelievable. To accomplish this, Hirst created a lavish trove, claiming the works had belonged to a freed slave turned art collector named Cif Amotan II, who lived at the time of the Roman Empire. His impressive collection had been lost to history with the sinking of a colossal ship named Apistos. Apistos, translated to “unbelievable” from Hirst’s “Koine Greek” lends to the exhibition’s cheeky title. 

Positioning himself as the benefactor who supported the recovery of these objects—in the “documentary” produced in association with the series, a “scientist” offhandedly describes his familiarity with Hirst as “the shark guy”—Hirst positions his role as an artist at a remove from the work. Fanciful and unexpected, Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable sees Hirst continue his longstanding exploration of life, loss, longevity, preservation, and memory in yet another innovative form.