Born in London in 1964 to a French mother and a British father—a physicist who worked for many years in Paris at the BIPM (the French initialism for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures), Quinn vividly remembers visiting his father’s laboratory, where they would look at atomic clocks together. The universe and our place within it are themes explored by Quinn who places us within a world that questions as much as it conceptualises.
Studying history and art history at the University of Cambridge, Quinn maintains that he never received any formal art training, but prior to Cambridge he worked as an assistant to Welsh sculptor Barry Flanagan, renowned for his quirky bronzes of hares. Energy, a sense of spontaneity and an organic, unfettered style can be seen is his works and the visceral element that juxtaposes life and death, rebirth and rekindling are all apparent.
The concept of “materialising the immaterial” and making things disappear fascinates Quinn—the idea that a flick of the power switch could transform an icy self-portrait into a pool of blood. (He has created an array of “sculptures on life support” that depend on technology and infrastructure to exist. These range from the blood heads to frozen flowers to Breath (2012), his colossal inflatable sculpture of a disabled, pregnant nude. Quinn regards the last as a “living monument,” saying, “It’s a sculpture kept in the air by breath. It’s very human. If you touch it, it gives like flesh.”
On Psychopsis Krameriana Nurseries, Director Acoris Andipa says,
“This large work is one of my favourites by Quinn. There is a certain ambiguity in the tension that is apparent in the content of the piece.On first glance there is an explosion of life and joy. However, on further inspection and examination we begin to see the rare flowers and excotic are actually planted in crushed ice. Beneath the tropical explosion and the hidden skull we start to question how long will they last? There is a stress with the work that makes one apprehensive as to the inevitable outcome of death. Disguised, on the face of it we find a stunning, colourful and happy work but the depth and detail haunt the background of the piece. The work is from the fascinating reversal series where the background is a negative of ice crystal and is reversed into black which disguises the familiar with its colour and composition.., There is a subtlety to this work and a complex layer and sting to it in the contrasting twists.”
Discover our Marc Quinn paintings for sale and contact our gallery via sales@andipa.com or call +44 (0)20 7581 1244.