Cinchonidine; Ciclopirox Olamine; Cineole

The round spot etchings Cinchonidine, Ciclopirox Olamine, and Cineole form a triptych, but single prints can also be hung individually. Hirst introduces in Ciclopirox Olamine a third color range he had, until now, not considered in his spot etchings, but had used in a group of paintings: pastel. Cineole covers the bright range of his first Spot etchings, while Cinchonidine shows grey nuances on each of the sixty-one spots. ‘Cineole’ is a natural organic compound, a colorless liquid. It is also known in a variety of synonyms ‘Eucalyptol’, ‘Limonene oxide’, ‘Cajeputol’ and others. ‘Cinchonidine’ is one of the quinine group of alkaloids, found especially in red cinchona bark. It is a white crystalline substance with a bitter taste and qualities similar to, but weaker than, quinine, sometimes also called cinchonidia. ‘Ciclopirox Olamine’ is a broad-spectrum topical antifungal. At lower concentrations the drug blocks the transport of amino acids into the cell, whereas at higher concentrations the cell membrane of the fungus is altered so that intracellular material leaks out.

Publication excerpt from an essay by Charles Booth-Clibborn, in Contemporary Art in Print: The publications of Charles Booth-Clibborn and his imprint The Paragon Press, 2001-2006, pp. 315.