Join The Collection to save, track, and explore works like this.

Damien Hirst — Nitrofurantoin 100mg
Damien Hirst

Nitrofurantoin 100mg

2019

Nitrofurantoin 100mg is a striking sculptural work in which Damien Hirst enlarges a pharmaceutical capsule to monumental scale, rendered in ABS plastic with cellulose paint and a 2K lacquer finish that gives the surface a gleaming, hyper-real quality. The choice of industrial materials — the same used in product manufacturing — reinforces Hirst's long-standing interrogation of the pharmaceutical industry's hold over modern life, beauty, and mortality. The work belongs to Hirst's broader Pill series, in which everyday medication is elevated to the status of sacred object, critiquing society's near-religious faith in chemical remedies and the commodification of health. The clinical precision of the lacquered finish mirrors the sterile authority of the medical world, while the sheer scale transforms something intimate and quotidian into something confrontational and unavoidable. Nitrofurantoin — an antibiotic — carries specific cultural resonance, evoking vulnerability, dependency, and the uneasy relationship between the body, illness, and corporate medicine.

Medium
ABS plastic, cellulose paint and 2K lacquer
Dimensions

For Sale

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

About this work

Damien Hirst, Nitrofurantoin 100mg, 2019

Nitrofurantoin 100mg is a striking sculptural work in which Damien Hirst enlarges a pharmaceutical capsule to monumental scale, rendered in ABS plastic with cellulose paint and a 2K lacquer finish that gives the surface a gleaming, hyper-real quality. The choice of industrial materials — the same used in product manufacturing — reinforces Hirst's long-standing interrogation of the pharmaceutical industry's hold over modern life, beauty, and mortality. The work belongs to Hirst's broader Pill series, in which everyday medication is elevated to the status of sacred object, critiquing society's near-religious faith in chemical remedies and the commodification of health. The clinical precision of the lacquered finish mirrors the sterile authority of the medical world, while the sheer scale transforms something intimate and quotidian into something confrontational and unavoidable. Nitrofurantoin — an antibiotic — carries specific cultural resonance, evoking vulnerability, dependency, and the uneasy relationship between the body, illness, and corporate medicine.

Medium
ABS plastic, cellulose paint and 2K lacquer
Dimensions
18.5 x 60.5 x 26.3 cm
Year
2019
Seen at
HENI, London, United Kingdom

Related themes

Consumer Culture, Sculpture, Pharmaceutical, Conceptual Art, 2010s, Pop Art, Critique, Kitsch Aesthetic, British Contemporary, Vibrant Colors

More works by Damien Hirst

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Sarah Greenspan, Hamilton Selway Gallery, Brittany Laques