Disney characters surface from the depths in Damien Hirst sculptures at Wynn Fine Art

Many years ago, renowned contemporary English artist Damien Hirst, famous for his conceptual and sometimes controversial art, imagined a shipwreck discovered in a mythical undersea world off the coast of East Africa and created a story and vision about what artifacts would be discovered among the wreckage.

His vision of the underwater world merged with the magic world of modern-day Disney characters, resulting in a series of five white marble sculptures called “Five Friends," as part of his work “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.”

The playful sculpture series of Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck made its debut at the Venice Biennale in 2017 to critical acclaim. Only three sets were created, one of which the artist kept for himself, and two that were purchased by Palm Beach resident Steve Wynn.

The series is on display for the first time in the United States at Wynn Fine Art, the gallery founded on Worth Avenue by Wynn, a real estate developer and art collector known for his involvement in developing the Wynn, Bellagio, Encore and Mirage hotels in Las Vegas.

“The series is kind of playing off the roles of fiction vs. reality,” says Kameron Ramirez, one of the curators of the show. “They are fun, playful characters recognized by children, but then geared toward adults as part of this story Hirst created that Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy were saved from the ocean.”

The sculptures were created to look as though they were found on the floor of the ocean, with sea plants, starfish, rocks, coral and other sea life embedded in the design base. And just like at Disney's Magic Kingdom, viewers to the gallery can experience the wonder of make-believe.

Ramirez moved to Palm Beach along with Wynn’s stepson, Nick Hissom, to open Wynn Fine Art, and the two have curated several exhibits since opening last season, including shows with works by Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. The back gallery for this show features drawings by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali currently on consignment from a private collector.

“Once we saw the concentration of people coming down here to Palm Beach with an interest in the arts around when the pandemic started, we realized that if we wanted to open a successful gallery, this was the place to do it at this time," Hissom says. "What we pride ourselves on is that Wynn Fine Arts offers a curated art experience at a very high level. You don’t walk into the gallery and see a hundred different things, you see only a handful of pieces, but all at the highest quality of art.”

Hissom, the director of the gallery, also overseesWynn's personal art collection, including private sales, loans to galleries, curation and management.

“It’s a collective strategy we use for the gallery also,” Hissom says. “It’s a curated selection process of what makes sense at the time, what story we are trying to tell, what the other galleries in the community are doing, and then deciding what will resonate best in the climate of the art market, but also for the season in Palm Beach. So this show we are doing now is a continuation of Hirst’s classic series, but with modern subject matter.”

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The gallery’s emphasis is on spotlighting contemporary emerging artists along with museum-quality works; so while the Disney characters are the centerpiece in the gallery for this show, Hissom also included a backdrop of a large painting of an above-world object, “Flowers” by Warhol, painted in 1965 and one of only two in existence.

“We are sort of telling the story of Damian Hirst and Andy Warhol as great figures in contemporary pop art culture across a long period of time," Hissom says. "Hirst is alive today and super current, and Andy Warhol is obviously reminiscent of another generation, but still very current, so that we found quite interesting.”

A steady stream of people interested in art have come through the gallery, says Hissom, but also many parents are bringing their young children because of their love for the characters from Disney.

Wynn Fine Art is open 11a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday or by private appointment for collectors at The Esplanade, 150 Worth Worth Ave., on the second floor. For more information visit www.wynnfineart.com or call 561-356-6818.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach's Wynn gallery showing Damien Hirst Disney sculptures