Damien Hirst medicine cabinet bought for under $800 could sell for millions

London CNN — A work by Damien Hirst originally bought for under $800 could fetch more than $2 million when it comes up for auction in London next month. The 1989 piece “Bodies,” which has an auction estimate of £1.2 million-£1.8 million is a doorless medicine cabinet packed with everything from Optrex eye drops to Dioralyte rehydration sachets. The label YBA is loosely applied to a group of British artists who, according to the Tate, “became known for their openness to materials and processes, shock tactics and entrepreneurial attitude.” According to Phillips’ website, Tibbles is a banker who began collecting art “at the genesis of a movement that transformed contemporary British art, and ushered a novel artistic language built on rebellion and audacity.” Hirst was at the forefront of this movement and his degree show in 1989 marked the beginnings of his “Medicine” series. “Antipyrylazo III” – Hirst’s 1994 work featuring 2,050 hand-painted spots – has been hanging above the collector’s fireplace since he bought it in the year it was created, the auction house said. “Damien came to put it up in the flat with a mate of his, and I remember going into the kitchen and hearing, ‘Higher than that, Charles, higher than that!’” He described Bodies as being “enjoyable at lots of different levels,” adding: “The more you look at it, the more you see and begin to understand all the little details, from the different medicines that have been put in it to the fact that the works are named after the tracks on the Sex Pistols’ album, which makes it even more peculiar, idiosyncratic, and enjoyable.” Recalling the response to his purchase more than 30 years ago, London-based Tibbles, 59, said: “People completely unrelated to the art market thought it was quite off-piste and uncomfortable.