Morrissey has said that Damien Hirst's head should be “kept in a bag” for his use of dead animals in his artwork.

The former Smiths star made the comment about Hirst as he turned questioner during a discussion with artist Linder for Interview magazine.

Some of Hirst's most notorious pieces, such as A Thousand Years and In and Out of Love, have incorporated dead animals.

“I dislike the 'use' of animals in art, such as in the work of Damien Hirst,” Morrissey told Linder.

“But in your latest performance piece, Your Actions Are My Dreams, you have a woman serenely sitting atop a calmly satisfied horse, which is, of course, alive and healthy.

“Do you agree that Hirst’s head should be kept in a bag for the way he’s utilized—and sold—dead animals?”

In response, Linder said: “Dead butterflies, cows, horses, humans, sheep, and sharks—it reads like the inventory of a funerary Noah.

“How many halved calves suspended in formaldehyde does the world need? To my way of thinking, none.”

Morrissey, who befriended Linder – full name Linder Sterling – in Manchester in the mid-1970s, also attacked Hirst again later in the interview.

He claimed the artist's wealth “reduces him to mere factory outlet”, to which Linder replied: “Someone’s got to keep him in Pond’s Cold Cream and Homer Simpson slippers.”

Linder's interview with Morrissey was timed to promote her forthcoming exhibition at the Sorcha Dallas gallery in Glasgow.

(by Jason Gregory)