Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn(born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, identity, environment, and the media. His work has used materials that vary widely, from blood, bread and flowers, to marble and stainless steel. Quinn has been the subject of solo exhibitions atSir John Soane's Museum, theTate Gallery,National Portrait Gallery,Fondation Beyeler,Fondazione Prada, andSouth London Gallery. The artist was a notable member of theYoung British Artistsmovement.
Quinn is internationally celebrated and was awarded the commission for the first edition of theFourth PlinthinTrafalgar Squarein 2004, for which he exhibitedAlison Lapper Pregnant. Quinn's notorious frozen self-portrait series made of his own blood,Self(1991–present) was subject to a retrospective atFondation Beyelerin 2009.
Quinn lives and works inLondon.
Quinn was born inLondonon 8 January 1964 to a French mother and a British father.He spent his early years inParis, where his father was a physicist working at the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures). Quinn recalls an early fascination with the scientific instruments in his father's laboratory, in particularatomic clocks.He attendedMillfield(a private boarding-school in Somerset), and studiedhistoryandhistory of artatRobinson College, Cambridge.
In the early 1990s, Quinn was the first artist to be represented by galleristJay Jopling.The artist had his first exhibition with Jopling in 1991, exhibitingSelf(1991), a frozen self-portrait made out of nine pints of the artist's blood.
During the 1990s, Quinn and several peers were identified for their radical approach to the making and experiencing of art. In 1992, the loosely affiliated group was called the 'Young British Artists' by writer Michael Corris inArtforum, and includedCornelia Parker,Sarah Lucas,Damien Hirst,Rachel Whiteread, andTracey Emin.
In 1995, Quinn was given a solo exhibition atTate Britainwhere new sculptures were shown as part of the Art Now series.In 1997 Quinn's workSelf(1991), was exhibited at theRoyal Academy, Londonfor the exhibitionSensation.Quinn'sSelf, along with works bySarah LucasandDamien Hirst, were already well known to the British public. The exhibition received widespread media attention and had a record number of visitors for a contemporary art exhibition.The exhibition then travelled to theHamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, and to theBrooklyn Museum, New York.
In 1998, he was given a solo exhibition at theSouth London Gallery,and in 1999, he had a solo exhibition at Kunstverein Hannover.TheGroninger Museumpresented a solo exhibition of Quinn's work in 2000.The artist was then invited to present a solo exhibition at theFondazione PradainMilanin 2000, where he presented an ambitious new workGarden.In 2002, he was given a solo exhibition atTate Liverpoolwhich included new works and photography,and coincided with theLiverpool Biennial, where Quinn presented1+1=3.In 2001, theNational Portrait Gallerygave Quinn a solo exhibition for his genomic portrait ofSir John Sulston.
In 2004 Quinn was awarded the first ever commission for theFourth Plinthin London'sTrafalgar Square, for which he produced a marble sculpture of pregnant disabled artist,Alison Lapper.
In 2006,Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Romepresented Marc Quinn's works in a solo exhibition focused on his recent figurative sculpture,and in 2009, theFondation Beyelerpresented a solo exhibition of Marc Quinn's ongoing seriesSelf,including all sculptures from 1991 to 2006.
In 2012, Quinn was commissioned to produce a monumental work for the opening ceremony of theParalympic Gamesat theLondon Olympics 2012, for which he producedBreath, a monumental sculpture ofAlison Lapperheld up by air.
In 2013, Quinn presented a solo exhibition curated byGermano Celantduring the 55thVenice Biennalefor art, atFondazione Giorgio Cini,Venicein a show of more than 50 works.
Quinn's first monographMemory BoxbyGermano Celantwas published in 2013.A feature-length documentary about Quinn's life and work,Making Waves, was released in 2014, produced and directed by Gerry Fox.London'sSomerset Housepresented a solo exhibition of Quinn in 2015, focusing on recent sculptures.
In 2017, Marc Quinn staged a major exhibition at theSir John Soane's Museumin London. The exhibition was the first in a new series of collaborations with contemporary artists, designers, and architects, which, inspired by the spirit ofSir John Soane, sought to bring the collection to life in innovative ways.
Quinn's early work was concerned with issues of corporeality, decay, and preservation.He experimented with organic and degradable materials including bread, blood, lead, flowers and DNA producing sculpture and installation,includingBread Sculptures(1988),Self(1991),Emotional Detox(1995),Garden(2000), andDNA Portrait of John Sulston(2001).In the 2000s, he began to focus on the use of marble, bronze, and concrete. The artist explored the body and its extremes through the lens of classical and urban materials; works includedThe Complete Marbles(1999–2005),Alison Lapper Pregnant(2004),Evolution(2005–2009) andPlanet(2008). Since 2010 he has worked with metals including stainless steel, aluminium, graffiti paints, seaside detritus, tapestry and painting, as seen inThe History Paintings(2009–present) andThe Toxic Sublime(2014–present).
The first work of Quinn's to gain international fame wasSelf, which was exhibited in 1991, when he was 27.Self(1991) is a self-portrait formed by a frozen cast of 10 pints of the artist's blood.It is an ongoing work, where the artist portrays himself every five years through a new cast with new blood.
The artworks are placed in transparent plexiglass-glass boxes, on top of freezing cabinets. This highlights a theme of the works, which is dependency.
Self(2006) is owned by theNational Portrait Gallery, London.
In 1995 Quinn producedEmotional Detox, a series of seven sculptures made of lead and cast from the artist's own body, were created at this time. Inspired by traditional iconography ofthe seven deadly sins, in each sculpture Quinn's body is being torn apart and reconfigured, reflecting detoxification as both a physical and psychological battle.
Emotional Detoxhas been exhibited atTate Britain, London (1995),Groninger Museum, The Netherlands (2000),andStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015).
In 2000, Quinn was given a solo exhibition at theFondazione Prada, Milan, which included his most ambitious works, involving organic matter.Gardenis a 12-metre-long, 3-metre-high sculpture in which thousands of flowers are frozen insiliconeoil.The work now belongs to theFondazione Pradacollection)
Quinn'sportraitofJohn E. Sulston, who won theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinein 2002 for sequencing the human genome on theHuman Genome Project,is in theNational Portrait Gallery. It consists of bacteria containing Sulston'sDNAinagarjelly. "The portrait was made by our standard methods for DNA cloning", writes Sulston. "My DNA was broken randomly into segments, and treated so that they could be replicated in bacteria. The bacteria containing the DNA segments were spread out on agar jelly in the plate you see in the portrait."
Quinn has made a series of marble sculptures of people either born with limbs missing or who have had themamputated. This culminated in his 15-ton marble statue ofAlison Lapper, a fellow artist born with no arms and severely shortened legs, which was displayed on thefourth plinthinTrafalgar Square, London from September 2005 until October 2007.(The Fourth Plinth is used for rotating displays of sculpture.) InDisability Studies Quarterly, Ann Millett writes, "The work has been highly criticized for capitalizing on the shock value of disability, as well as lauded for its progressive social values. Alison Lapper Pregnant and the controversy surrounding it showcase disability issues at the forefront of current debates in contemporary art".
A large reproduction of the sculpture was used as a central element of the2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony.
Since 2006, Marc Quinn has made numerous studies of the supermodelKate Moss. In April 2006,Sphinx, a sculpture of Kate Moss by Quinn, was revealed.The sculpture shows Moss in ayogaposition with her ankles and arms wrapped behind her ears. This body of work culminated in an exhibition at theMary Boone Galleryin New York in May 2007. The sculpture is on permanent display inFolketeatretinOslo,Norway.
In August 2008, Quinn unveiled another sculpture of Moss in solid 18-caratgoldcalledSiren, which was exhibited atthe British Museumin London. The life-size sculpture was promoted as "the largest gold statue sinceancient Egypt".
In 2009 Quinn began his "History Paintings" series which has continued to evolve.  The initial group of work in this effort were of enlarged press photos of conflicts around the world rendered intooil on canvaspaintings or silk or wooljacquardtapestries.
In May 2010, Quinn revealed a series of new sculptures at London'sWhite Cubegallery includingThe Ecstatic Autogenesis of Pamelabased on film actressPamela AndersonandChelsea Charmsbased on pornography modelChelsea Charms.
Quinn's models have included "Catman"Dennis Avner(who has been tattooed to look like a cat) andtransgenderpeople such asThomas Beatie,Buck Angel, and Allanah Starr. Quinn's portrait sculpture "Buck & Allanah" depicts the two nude, standing hand in hand, in a pose reminiscent ofAdam and Eve. The sculpture of Thomas Beatie depicts him at full-term pregnancy, bowing his head and cradling his abdomen with two hands.
The exhibition also included a new series of flower paintings executed in reversed colour and two large-scaleorchidsculptures in white painted bronze, installed inHoxton Square, opposite the gallery.
In 2015 Marc Quinn opened an exhibition of new work atWhite CubeBermondsey, entitledThe Toxic Sublime. It featured new bodies of work that explore the ecological impact of man on nature. ‘The Toxic Sublimes’ are distorted, three dimensional seascapes. Alongside these paintings, a new series of sculptures, cast instainless steel, including one measuring over 7.5 meters long, form part of a body of work titledFrozen Waves. The sculptures originate from the core of shells, eroded by the endless action of waves.
In 2017, Quinn was given a solo exhibition atSir John Soane's Museumin London. A display of 12 life-cast sculptures, theAll About Loveseries explore the notion of love through the expression of classical fragmented sculpture. Created in collaboration with his partner at the time, the sculptures, which depict the two embracing one another, are works that echo sculptures of many periods from theRenaissancetoAuguste Rodin.
The sculptureA Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020was erected secretly inBristolin the early morning of 15 July 2020; it is Quinn's statue ofBlack Lives Matterprotester, Jen Reid.The statue was mounted on the plinth which formerly held a 19th-centurystatue of Edward Colston, a Bristol merchant, philanthropist, andToryMember of Parliament(MP) who had been involved in theAtlantic slave trade.Just over 24 hours after the statue was installed, theBristol City Councilhad it taken down as it did not have permission to be installed.TheMayor of Bristol,Marvin Rees, invited Quinn to make a contribution towards the cost to the council of having his statue removed.
This currently ongoing series of paintings by Quinn are of paint splattered over blown up screen shots of photos and news stories of current events taken on his cell phone and created during and in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.  These new works are considered a continuation of hisHistory Paintingseries begun in 2009.
Quinn has participated in a number of charity auctions since 2010. His work was auctioned for the UK's homelessness charity,Crisis, in collaboration withVogueatChristie'sin 2010.In 2013, he donated work to the Mimi Foundation charity for cancer auction atSotheby's.He donated work to the charity auction forPeace One DayatBonhams, curated byJake Chapman, in 2014 and 2015.
In 2013 Quinn was commissioned to make a work forRHS Chelsea Flower Show, marking the first time an artist collaborated with the flower show in its 100-year history.The Rush of Nature(2013) was auctioned atSotheby’s to help raise money for RHS Chelsea Centenary Appeal.
Work by Quinn was auctioned at theLeonardo DiCaprio Foundationannual St. Tropez Gala in 2016, supporting environmental protection.
The work of the artist is held, among others, in the following public collections: