Damien Hirst’s monumental headless demon last seen in his shipwreck show in Venice is due to become Las Vegas’s latest outlandish attraction. The Palms Casino Resort announced it will install the 60-foot-tall sculpture in the hotel’s new pool this spring.
The billionaire hoteliers, casino owners, and collectors Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta have acquired an edition Hirst’s Demon With Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement) (2014) for the resort that they own. A representative for the Palms declined to reveal the price, but ARTnews reported that the asking price for the massive sculpture was $14 million.
A resin cast of Hirst’s sculpture was originally unveiled in the courtyard of François Pinault’s private museum in Venice, the Palazzo Grassi, in 2017 as part of Hirst’s spectacular exhibition “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.” A spokesperson for the Palms confirmed that its work is a bronze; the resin cast that appeared in the Venice show was destroyed after the exhibition closed.
The Las Vegas hotel and casino already features a bar designed by Hirst, complete with a preserved 13-foot-long tiger shark divided into three parts floating in steel tanks. The decor also features no fewer than 16 spot paintings from the artist’s “Pharmaceutical” series as well as coasters, matchsticks, and other accessories he designed especially for the bar.
As part of an ongoing $690 million renovation, the Palms’ creative director Tal Cooperman has put together an impressive display of works by other blue-chip artists drawn from the Fertitta brothers’ collection. Gamblers and hotel guests are surrounded by works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince, among others, as well as pieces by street artists including Adam Parker Smith, Revok, Eric Haze, Scott Hove, Felipe Pantone, James Jean, and Timothy Curtis.
“We have curated a collection that is bold, relevant to today’s traveler and most of all a truly interactive experience,” the Palms’ general manager Jon Gray said in a statement in May. With the addition of Hirst’s supersize sculpture in its swimming pool, the hotel has certainly captured another bold addition for the collection. And Hirst’s headless monster may finally feel right at home in over-the-top Vegas.