Sudafed PE (2014) by Damien Hirst takes the familiar form of an over-the-counter cold and flu capsule and scales it up to an exaggerated, seductive, glossy object of desire. Cast in a luminous translucent orange polyurethane, the piece reads immediately as an industrially perfected pharmaceutical unit — smooth, seamless, streamlined — yet it is also disarmingly minimal.

The clean white typography “SMS” printed across the centre underscores Hirst’s long-standing fascination with medical branding, language and marketing at the level of the pill itself. As with the Medicine Cabinets and Pharmacy works, Sudafed PE elevates everyday pharmaceuticals beyond their utilitarian function and asks viewers to consider the psychological comfort, trust, dependency and — crucially — belief we place in the aesthetics of drugs.

Here, Damien Hirst’s Sudafed PE becomes a contemporary icon — a sculpture that looks like it could have rolled straight off a sterilised conveyor belt. The hyper-finish and flawless manufacture blur the line between art and product design, making the work feel at once corporate, clinical, and almost Pop in its bold clarity.

Ultimately, Sudafed PE collapses branding, sculpture and cultural critique into one perfect, deceptively simple form — a witty and pointed reminder that in 21st-century life, the pill has become an image, a symbol and an idea as much as a cure.