10 Facts About Damien Hirst's 40 Woodcut Spots

Each iteration of the work appears in an edition of 55, showing huge variety across his signature dot motif. The spot paintings first appeared in the Freeze exhibition that Hirst curated in 1988, and have since then become synonymous with the artist. These original works were hand-painted, messy and complete with paint dripping down an 8ft-by-12ft panel. 40 Woodcut Spots marks a more mature phase of this motif, with a more mechanical and clean look.

Each print is named after a chemical compound that is found in nature, with names like Doxylamine, Quisqualic Acid and Ethylamine. The prints expand on Hirst's fascination with scientific and pharmaceutical themes, a profound exploration of the interplay between life, death and human attempts at control. Reminiscent of his early medicine cabinets that encapsulate our reliance on and belief in pharmaceuticals, his spot paintings mirror the uniformity of pills.

He has stated that "mathematically, with the spot paintings, I probably discovered the most fundamentally important thing in any kind of art, which is the harmony of where colour can exist on its own, interacting with other colours in a perfect format."

This is part of Hirst's attempts to create a dynamic composition, where the circles -- imprinted in flat, black hues -- interact with one another to create the illusion of movement through repetition.

While most prints are square or traditionally rectangular in shape, not all of them are. Some prints such as Picolinic Acid, Ferric Acid Citrate and Cesium Sulfate come in a very narrow horizontal rectangle.

While Hirst has caught some flack from the art world for having "only painted 3 or 4" of his spot paintings, with most of them being done by assistants, the prints pose no such qualms. They can be seen as an evolution and democratisation of his creative process, which lies more in the conception of the works than in the actual fabrication.

When counting both paintings and prints, Hirst and his studio have created over a thousand spot works since his first Freeze compositions in 1988. The works' enduring popularity speaks of their fun and dynamic nature.

Of the variations in imperfections in his spot works, Hirst has said: "At the very beginning of my spot painting career I made some messy spots and I hated them, so I perfected them into perfect dots. For 25 years I made perfect dots. At the very end, I went back to the first ones - I made two or three - and I thought, I’m just going to make these messy ones again. And I really liked them."

According to Henrik Riis, CEO of Eyestorm -- the gallery responsible for commissioning many of the most iconic Spot paintings in 2000 -- the Spot works appeal to so many because "they are so visibly easy to understand for many people. From a communication perspective they are simple. Most people do not know the story behind the series, but they instantly know that a Spot print is a Hirst. This is what gives them their ‘wow’ factor and why so many people want to hang them in their homes."

Woodcut printing is one of the oldest techniques of printmaking, originating in China in the 9th century. It involves carving a design into the surface of a wooden block, leaving the areas to be printed raised. Once the design is carved, ink is applied to the block's surface, and then the block is pressed onto paper or fabric. The result is a print that mirrors the carved design. Due to its handcrafted nature, each woodcut print can have unique variations, adding to their charm and individuality.