NEW YORK - Controversial British artist Damien Hirst has purchased a portrait of Paris Hilton made out of clippings from porn magazines.
Artist Jonathan Yeo has painted traditional portraits of Tony Blair, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rupert Murdoch and Prince Philip. He first used porn mags as a medium in a portrait of George W. Bush, which he created after the White House canceled his commission to paint the President.
The Bush and Hilton collages are now on display in New York as part of an exhibit sponsored by the Lazarides Gallery. The two-week show opens today at 282 Bowery in Manhattan.
Reproductions of "Paris 2008" are selling at the gallery for $20. According to the Associated Press, Yeo is offering proceeds from the sales to Hilton because she didn't make any money on her infamous "1 Night in Paris" sex tape.
Hirst bought the Hilton collage for an undisclosed sum after reaping record profits from an auction of his own work earlier this month. The Hirst exhibition featured animal corpses in tanks of formaldehyde.
Hilton has not commented on the portrait. [Check out her thumb in the picture above. - Ed.]
