Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. In 1984 he moved to London, where he worked in construction before studying for a BA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths college from 1986 to 1989. Whilst in his second year, he conceived and curated a group exhibition entitled ‘Freeze’. The show is commonly acknowledged to have been the launching point for Hirst and for a generation of British artists. Since the late 1980s, Hirst has used varied practices to explore the complex relationships between art, life and death, explaining: “Art’s about life and it can’t really be about anything else … there isn’t anything else.” Through work, he investigates and challenges contemporary belief systems, and dissects the uncertainties at the heart of human experience. Since 1987, over 90 solo Damien Hirst exhibitions have taken place worldwide, and his work has been included in over 260 group shows. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995.