“For an artist said to be preoccupied with death – pickled sharks, pinned butterflies, decomposing cows’ heads – the reality of it didn’t hit Damien Hirst until 18 months ago. Shortly before Christmas 2003, his great friend Joe Strummer, former lead singer with The Clash, sat down in a chair in the kitchen of his Somerset home, near Bridgwater, and had a fatal heart attack.”