Dark Rainbow is both playful and unsettling, a compact, high-gloss sculpture that masterfully balances allure with menace. The form is unmistakably that of a shark’s open mouth, jaws wide, yet instead of sharp white teeth, Hirst fills it with a dazzling array of candy-colored resin forms. Each “tooth” is painted in bright colors transforming a symbol of primal fear into something almost joyful. The cheerful palette creates a striking contrast with the menacing anatomy, turning threat into spectacle. It’s this tension between danger and delight that makes Dark Rainbow so compelling, an ambiguity that sits at the heart of Hirst’s broader practice, where themes of life, death, seduction, and threat are always in dialogue.

Produced in 2009 in an edition of just 40, Dark Rainbow reflects Hirst’s ongoing exploration of collectible sculpture as fine art. Compact and impeccably finished, it’s a striking piece on a pedestal or shelf, one that shifts in mood depending on how you view it, and from what angle. At once sleek, playful, and quietly ominous, Dark Rainbow is a object of visual contradiction.

Hirst is a British artist and leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement that emerged in the late 1980s. Known for his provocative works exploring themes of life, death, beauty, and decay, His rise to international fame was solidified with objets like The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), featuring a shark suspended in formaldehyde. His practice spans sculpture, painting, installation, and print, often using pharmaceutical imagery, spot patterns, and natural specimens. Hirst lives and works in London and Devon, and remains one of the most influential and commercially successful artists of his generation.