NORFOLK, Jan 11 — Damien Hirst will be following up his highly publicised Venice exhibition last year with a showing of new work at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, UK.

Starting March 25, the venue's State Rooms will display a series of new paintings called "Colour Space,” while some of his most celebrated sculptures will be on view throughout the 18th-century house and gardens.

"Colour Space” builds on the artist's iconic "Spot Paintings” of the 1980s and '90s, which were based on the logic of mechanical paint application, although these new works are said to be "looser and more organic in appearance,” according to a statement.

"I originally wanted the Spots to look like they were painted by a human trying to paint like a machine. Colour Space is going back to the human element, so instead you have the fallibility of the human hand in the drips and inconsistencies,” explains Hirst. "There are still no two exact colours that repeat in each painting, which is really important to me. I think of them as cells under a microscope.”

Among the sculptures going on display will be "Virgin Mother” (2005-2006) and "Charity” (2002-2003), both to be installed outdoors, and several sculptures in the house: "Saint Bartholomew,” "Exquisite Pain” (2006, in the Entrance Hall), plus two smaller sculptures from the artist's "levitation” series, featuring air blowers and table tennis balls.

The show follows Hirst's blockbuster show in Venice, titled "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable,” which features hundreds of objects said to have been lost in a legendary shipwreck and which was perhaps the most talked-about exhibition of 2017.

"Damien Hirst at Houghton Hall: Colour Space Paintings and Outdoor Sculptures” will be on display from March 25 through July 15. — AFP-Relaxnews