Some people are just too famous to turn up to their own parties. Damien Hirst skipped last night’s launch party for his book, ABC, at Other Criteria, the shop and publishing company he co-founded in Hinde Street. He was apparently in Qatar preparing for a show.
Hirst’s absence didn’t seem to be harming sales of the book, his first venture into the children’s market. Charlotte Nunn, manager of Other Criteria, estimated more than 150 copies had been sold in an hour and a half. Nunn assures me Hirst does visit the shop “now and then”. Hirst disciples had to make do with his long-time collaborator Jason Beard, who edited the book and shouldered much of the work in devising its alphabetised list of concepts related to Hirst’s art. “Q was a bit of a shoehorn,” he admits. In the book, the letter begins the word “Quackers” and is illustrated by Up, Up and Away, Hirst’s 1997 triptych of preserved ducks.
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