Hirst's Art Voted No 1

Damien Hirst, the bad boy of British art famous for pickling a shark, has topped ArtReview's "Power 100" list. The 40 year old artist leapt 77 places to number one spot on the annual ranking published by the influential art monthly. Hirst has had a phenomenal year. Even if his new art work shown this year in London and New York was critically panned, it hasn't seemed to matter - no other living artist sold for more during the past year. Hirst hit the headlines late in 2004 by fetching £11 million in under two hours at a sale of his art, and months later his iconic 1991 work featuring a shark suspended in formaldehyde sold for around £7 million. The only other artist in ArtReview's Top 10 is American Bruce Nauman at number nine, who in contrast to Hirst leads his life away from the limelight on a horse ranch in New Mexico. For the full story - click the title Irish Art