2002 Manolo Blahniks made with Damien Hirst.
  • 2002 Manolo Blahniks made with Damien Hirst.
I went to see Kick-Ass this weekend (Paul Constant's awesomely thoughtful review here) and I couldn't keep my eyes off the art in the bad guy's penthouse.

When you get off the elevator?

Marc Quinn's head made of his own frozen blood, called Self.

On the wall of the entrance?

Head ofrozen blood.
  • Head o'frozen blood.
A Damien Hirst polka dot painting.

And inside the big guy's office, at least one recognizable Ed Ruscha: A painting with the words "BRAVE MEN RUN IN MY FAMILY," which is the same text on the exterior mural at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla, overlooking the vast Pacific. (It also, says this, inspired the Sonic Youth song.)

Thats a head of blood in a vitrine behind her, all right.
  • That's a head of blood in a vitrine behind her, all right.
What's it mean that contemporary art lives deep in the heart of the biggest baddest guy? Well, basically that Ruscha's deadpan and Hirst's supposed critique are easily coopted. You're not going to see a Leon Golub in there.

What I'm wondering, though, is did the studio actually borrow these works?

Or are the artists consulted before their works are installed in a superhero-movie mobster's den?