Damien Hirst has designed his own restaurant at Newport Street Gallery
by Kim Megson | 18 Feb 2016
A medical-themed restaurant designed by Damien Hirst will open at London’s Newport Street Gallery next week (23 February).
Hirst has collaborated with chef and restaurateur Mark Hix to open Pharmacy 2, which will serve British and European dishes to visitors at the Vauxhall gallery – which was designed by architects Caruso St John and opened in October 2015 to house Hirst’s personal art collection.
The restaurant features Hirst’s own artistic creations, some of them familiar from his previous shows, including his 1980s Medicine Cabinets and his more recent butterfly kaleidoscope paintings. Exploring the artist’s interest in science, through medicine and pharmaceuticals, the new site also features etched glass windows depicting DNA strands and individually crafted pill designs embedded into the marble floor and leather banquettes.
“Pharmacy 2 combines two of my greatest passions; art and food,” said Hirst. “I’ve always loved Mark as a chef and his approach to food, so it’s great we’re working together on this."
The restaurant’s name is a reference to the artist’s 1992 installation Pharmacy, which was first shown in New York, and the Hirst-designed Pharmacy Restaurant & Bar which was open from 1998 until 2003 in London’s Notting Hill.
Hirst art works have recently been used in another London eatery: Sexy Fish in Mayfair. The artist created a pair of bronze mermaids to decorate the lavish seafood restaurant, which is run by the British developer Richard Caring.
Damien Hirst Newport Street Gallery Pharmacy art Mark Hix food culture architecture design
Art and food combine at Damien Hirst's Pharmacy 2 restaurant, which opens next week Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
The restaurant design explores the artist's long-running fascination with science, medicine and the pharmaceutical industry Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
The restaurant’s name is a reference to the artist’s 1992 installation Pharmacy, which was first shown in New York Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
Hirst previously launched another London restaurant called Pharmacy, which closed its doors in 2003 Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
Caruso St John designed the Newport Street Gallery which opened in Vauxhall in October last year Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
Many of Hirst's previous installations make appearances in Pharmacy 2 Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates, courtesy of 2H Restaurant Ltd
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A medical-themed restaurant designed by Damien Hirst will open at London’s Newport Street Gallery next week (23 February). Hirst has collaborated with chef and restaurateur Mark Hix to open Pharmacy 2, which will serve British and European dishes to visitors at the Vauxhall gallery – which was designed by architects Caruso St John and opened in October 2015 to house Hirst’s personal art collection. The restaurant features Hirst’s own artistic
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"Culture is the beating heart of this project"
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