Controlled Substances
Controlled Substances
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
£3,800-£5,500Value Indicator
$8,000-$11,500 Value Indicator
$7,000-$10,000 Value Indicator
¥35,000-¥50,000 Value Indicator
€4,400-€6,500 Value Indicator
$40,000-$60,000 Value Indicator
¥760,000-¥1,090,000 Value Indicator
$5,000-$7,500 Value Indicator
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
49 x 47cm, Edition of 150, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 150
Year: 2011
Size: H 49cm x W 47cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: March 2025
Value Trend:
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
TradingFloor
Auction Results
Track auction value trend
Meaning & Analysis
Controlled Substances is a screen print by Damien Hirst from 2011. This print is based on Hirst’s very famous Spots paintings and much like many of his prints and editions, shows a variation on this iconic set of works. Controlled Substances depicts six rows and six columns of brightly coloured spots against a white backdrop, with the space between each dot filled with a capital letter or number in bold, black font.
The series of Controlled Substances paintings refer specifically to dangerous drugs that cannot be legally accessed by non-medical professionals. Beginning in 1993, this series was based around works with titles like Opium, Morphine Sulfate and Inovacodeine. Controlled Substances is set apart from other Spots paintings by the inclusion of text alongside the coloured circles but is largely based on the same principles.
In order to choose the names for his Spots paintings, each named after pharmaceuticals, Hirst bought the Physicians’ Desk Reference. This is a compilation of information on prescription drugs used by manufacturers, that is published commercially and updated every year. Hirst commented that “it was just an afterthought to name them after drugs, based on this book, but I saw it and thought: I have just got to do all of them”.
Damien Hirst, born in Bristol in 1965, is often hailed the enfant terrible of the contemporary art world. His provocative works challenge conventions and his conceptual brilliance spans installations, paintings, and sculptures, often exploring themes of mortality and the human experience. As a leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement in the late '80s, Hirst's work has dominated the British art scene for decades and has become renowned for being laced with controversy, thus shaping the dialogue of modern art.
