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 at

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...

, the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, National Portrait Gallery,

Fondation Beyeler The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen, near Basel ( Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes a ...

Fondazione Prada Fondazione Prada, co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli since 1995, is an institution dedicated to contemporary art and culture. From 1993 to 2010, the Fondazione has organised 24 solo shows at its exhibition spaces in Milan, conceived ...

, and

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

. The artist was a notable member of the

Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

movement. Quinn is internationally celebrated and was awarded the commission for the first edition of the

Fourth Plinth The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square in central London. It was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was deba ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

in 2004, for which he exhibited ''Alison Lapper Pregnant.'' Quinn's notorious frozen self-portrait series made of his own blood, ''Self'' (1991–present) was subject to a retrospective at

in 2009. Quinn lives and works in London.

Life and career

Quinn was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 8 January 1964 to a French mother and a British father. He spent his early years in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where his father was a physicist working at the BIPM (

Bureau International des Poids et Mesures The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (french: Bureau international des poids et mesures, BIPM) is an intergovernmental organisation, through which its 59 member-states act together on measurement standards in four areas: chemistry ...

). Quinn recalls an early fascination with the scientific instruments in his father's laboratory, in particular

atomic clock An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betwee ...

s. He attended

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

(a private boarding-school in Somerset) and studied

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both ...

. In the early 1990s, Quinn was the first artist to be represented by gallerist

Jay Jopling Jeremy Michael "Jay" Jopling (born June 1963) is an English art dealer and gallerist. He is the founder of White Cube. Early life Jay Jopling is the son of Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, a Conservative politician who served for some time as ...

. The artist had his first exhibition with Jopling in 1991, exhibiting ''Self'' (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 '

' by writer Michael Corris in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'', and included

Cornelia Parker Cornelia Ann Parker (born 14 July 1956) is an English visual artist, best known for her sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physica ...

Sarah Lucas Sarah Lucas (born 1962) is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, collage and found objects. ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

Rachel Whiteread Dame Rachel Whiteread (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993. Whiteread was one of the Young British Ar ...

, and

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...

. In 1995, Quinn was given a solo exhibition at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

where new sculptures were shown as part of the Art Now series. In 1997 Quinn's work ''Self'' (1991), was exhibited at the

Royal Academy, London The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

for the exhibition ''

Sensation Sensation (psychology) refers to the processing of the senses by the sensory system. Sensation or sensations may also refer to: In arts and entertainment In literature *Sensation (fiction), a fiction writing mode *Sensation novel, a British ...

''. Quinn's ''Self'', along with works by

and

, 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 the

Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof is the former terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as a contemporary art museum, the , part of the Berlin Nati ...

, Berlin, and to the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

, New York. In 1998, he was given a solo exhibition at the

, and in 1999, he had a solo exhibition at Kunstverein Hannover. The

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building co ...

presented a solo exhibition of Quinn's work in 2000. The artist was then invited to present a solo exhibition at the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 2000, where he presented an ambitious new work ''Garden.'' In 2002, he was given a solo exhibition at

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corpo ...

which included new works and photography, and coincided with the

Liverpool Biennial Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom. Every two years, the city of Liverpool hosts an extensive range of artworks, projects, and a programme of events. The biennial commissions leading ...

, where Quinn presented ''1+1=3.'' In 2001, the National Portrait Gallery gave Quinn a solo exhibition for his genomic portrait of

Sir John Sulston Sir John Edward Sulston (27 March 1942 – 6 March 2018) was a British biologist and academic who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the cell lineage and genome of the worm ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' in 2002 with ...

. In 2004 Quinn was awarded the first ever commission for the

in London's

, for which he produced a marble sculpture of pregnant disabled artist,

Alison Lapper Alison Lapper Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 7 April 1965) is a British artist. She is the subject of the sculpture ''Alison Lapper Pregnant'', which was displayed on Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square, the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square ...

. In 2006, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Rome presented Marc Quinn's works in a solo exhibition focused on his recent figurative sculpture, and in 2009, the

presented a solo exhibition of Marc Quinn's ongoing series ''Self,'' including all sculptures from 1991 to 2006. In 2012, Quinn was commissioned to produce a monumental work for the opening ceremony of the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

at the

London Olympics 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, for which he produced ''Breath'', a monumental sculpture of

held up by air. In 2013, Quinn presented a solo exhibition on the occasion of the 55th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

for art, at

Fondazione Giorgio Cini The Giorgio Cini Foundation (''Italian: Fondazione Giorgio Cini''), or just Cini Foundation, is a cultural foundation founded 20 April 1951 in memory of Giorgio Cini, an Italian entrepreneur who died in August 1949. History The Foundation is loca ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, curated by

Germano Celant Germano Celant (11 September 1940 – 29 April 2020) was an Italian art historian, critic and curator who coined the term " Arte Povera" (poor art) in 1967 and wrote many articles and books on the subject. Work Germano Celant was born in Genoa ...

. Quinn's first monograph ''Memory Box'' by

was 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's

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

presented a solo exhibition of Quinn in 2015, focusing on recent sculptures. In 2017, Marc Quinn staged a major exhibition at the

in London. The exhibition was the first in a new series of collaborations with contemporary artists, designers, and architects, which, inspired by the spirit of

Sir John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...

, sought to bring the collection to life in innovative ways.

Works

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, including ''Bread Sculptures'' (1988), ''Self'' (1991), ''Emotional Detox'' (1995), ''Garden'' (2000), and ''DNA 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 included ''The Complete Marbles'' (1999–2005), ''Alison Lapper Pregnan''t (2004), ''Evolution'' (2005–2009) and ''Planet'' (2008). Since 2010 he has worked with metals including stainless steel, aluminium, graffiti paints, seaside detritus, tapestry and painting, as seen in ''The History Paintings'' (2009–present) and ''The Toxic Sublime'' (2014–present).

Early works: 1991–2000

''Self'', 1991 – present

The first work of Quinn's to gain international fame was ''Self'', 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 the National Portrait Gallery, London.

''Emotional Detox'', 1995

In 1995 Quinn stopped drinking. ''Emotional 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 of

the seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins is a classification of vices used in Christian teachings. Seven deadly sins may also refer to: Art * ''The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things'', a 1485 painting by Hieronymus Bosch * '' The Seven Deadly Sins of Moder ...

, in each sculpture Quinn's body is being torn apart and reconfigured, reflecting detoxification as both a physical and psychological battle. ''Emotional Detox'' has been exhibited at

, London (1995),

, The Netherlands (2000), and

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, Amsterdam (2015).

''Garden'' (2000)

In 2000, Quinn was given a solo exhibition at the

, Milan, which included his most ambitious works, involving organic matter. ''Garden'' is a 12-metre-long, 3-metre-high sculpture in which thousands of flowers are frozen in

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

oil. The flowers in the sculpture can never bloom in the same time of year or in the same parts of the world.. The work now belongs to the

collection)

Notable works: 2000–2010

''Portrait of John E. Sulston'' (2001)

Quinn's

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

John E. Sulston Sir John Edward Sulston (27 March 1942 – 6 March 2018) was a British biologist and academic who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the cell lineage and genome of the worm '' Caenorhabditis elegans'' in 2002 wit ...

, who won the

Nobel prize in physiology or medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

in 2002 for sequencing the human genome on the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

, is in the National Portrait Gallery. It consists of bacteria containing Sulston's DNA in

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar is ...

jelly. "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."

''Alison Lapper, The Fourth Plinth'' (2005–2007)

Quinn has made a series of marble sculptures of people either born with limbs missing or who have had them

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

. This culminated in his 15-ton marble statue of

, a fellow artist born with no arms and severely shortened legs, which was displayed on the

fourth plinth The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square in central London. It was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was deba ...

, London from September 2005 until October 2007. (The Fourth Plinth is used for rotating displays of sculpture.) In ''

Disability Studies Quarterly The Ohio State University Libraries are the collective libraries of the Ohio State University and its satellite campuses. This system welcomes Ohio State faculty, students, visiting scholars and the general public to study and research. It includes ...

'', 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 the

2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony The 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony was held on 29 August 2012, starting at 20:30 BST and marking the official opening of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, England. The show – named ''Enlightenment'' – had Jenny Sealey and Br ...

''Sphinx'' (2006) and ''Siren'' (2008)

Since 2006, Marc Quinn has made numerous studies of the supermodel

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

. In April 2006, ''

Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

'', a sculpture of Kate Moss by Quinn, was revealed. The sculpture shows Moss in a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

position with her ankles and arms wrapped behind her ears. This body of work culminated in an exhibition at the

Mary Boone Gallery Mary Boone (born c. 1951/1952) is an American art dealer and collector. Life Boone moved to New York City at the age of 19 from Erie, Pennsylvania to a working class family of Egyptian immigrants. She studied Art History at Rhode Island School o ...

in New York in May 2007. The sculpture is on permanent display in

Folketeatret Folketeateret is a theatre in Oslo, Norway. The building has been used as a movie theatre and as an opera house. The theatre has 1,400 seats. History The theatre itself operated from 1952 to 1959, but the institution has a much longer history. ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In August 2008, Quinn unveiled another sculpture of Moss in solid 18- carat

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

called ''Siren'', which was exhibited at

the British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

in London. The life-size sculpture was promoted as "the largest gold statue since ancient Egypt".

''History Paintings'' (2009 – present)

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 into

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

paintings or silk or wool

jacquard Jacquard may refer to: People * Albert Jacquard (1925-2013), French geneticist and essayist * Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), French weaver and inventor of the Jacquard loom * Robert Jacquard (born 1958), American politician Other uses * A M Ja ...

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

Notable works: 2010 – present

In May 2010, Quinn revealed a series of new sculptures at London's

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

gallery including ''The Ecstatic Autogenesis of Pamela'' based on film actress

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Anders ...

and ''Chelsea Charms'' based on pornography model

Chelsea Charms Chelsea Charms (born March 7, 1976) is a former American big-bust model, internet model, and stripper who is famous for having extremely large breasts. Biography Charms has appeared in adult magazines specializing in large breast models. She ...

. Quinn's models have included "Catman" Dennis Avner (who has been tattooed to look like a cat) and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people such as Thomas Beatie,

Buck Angel Buck Angel (born June 5, 1962) is an American pornographic film actor, producer and sex educator. He is the founder of the media production company Buck Angel Entertainment. A transsexual man, he received the 2007 AVN Award as Transsexual Perfo ...

, and Allanah Starr. Quinn's portrait sculpture "Buck & Allanah" depicts the two nude, standing hand in hand, in a pose reminiscent of

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

. 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-scale

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

sculptures in white painted bronze, installed in

Hoxton Square Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digita ...

, opposite the gallery.

''The Toxic Sublime'' (2015)

In 2015 Marc Quinn opened an exhibition of new work at

Bermondsey, entitled ''The 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 in

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

, including one measuring over 7.5 meters long, form part of a body of work titled ''Frozen Waves''. The sculptures originate from the core of shells, eroded by the endless action of waves.

''All About Love'' (2016–2017)

In 2017, Quinn was given a solo exhibition at

in London. A display of 12 life-cast sculptures, the ''All About Love'' series 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 the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

''A Surge of Power (Jen Reid)'' 2020

The sculpture ''

A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 ''A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020'' is a 2020 black resin sculpture, sculpted by Marc Quinn and modelled on Jen Reid; both Quinn and Reid are credited as artists. It depicts Reid, a black female protester, raising her arm in a Black Power sa ...

'' was erected secretly in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in the early morning of 15 July 2020; it is Quinn's statue of

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

protester, Jen Reid. The statue was mounted on the plinth which formerly held a 19th-century

statue of Edward Colston The statue of Edward Colston is a bronze statue of Bristol-born merchant and trans-Atlantic slave trader, Edward Colston (1636–1721). It was created in 1895 by the Irish sculptor John Cassidy and was formerly erected on a plinth of Portland ...

, a Bristol merchant, philanthropist, and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) who had been involved in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

. Just over 24 hours after the statue was installed, the

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 wards ...

had it taken down as it did not have permission to be installed. The

Mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol is the head of government of Bristol and the chief executive of the Bristol City Council. The mayor is a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, is responsible for the strategic ...

Marvin Rees Marvin Rees (born April 1972) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Mayor of Bristol since 2016. Early life and education Marvin Rees was brought up in Bristol, partly in Lawrence Weston and Easton, by his British mother. ...

, invited Quinn to make a contribution towards the cost to the council of having his statue removed.

''Viral Paintings'' (2020)

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 the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. These new works are considered a continuation of his '' History Painting'' series begun in 2009.

Collections

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

* National Portrait Gallery, London *

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in ...

, Paris *

, Amsterdam *

Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art is a privately owned contemporary art gallery in Oslo in Norway. It was founded and opened to the public in 1993. The collection's main focus is the American appropriation artists from the 1980s, but it is ...

Berardo Collection Museum The Berardo Collection Museum (in Portuguese: Museu Colecção Berardo) was a museum of modern and contemporary art in Belém, a district of Lisbon, Portugal. It was replaced by the Conteporary Art Museum - Centro Cultural de Belém in January ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York.

Charity auctions

Quinn has participated in a number of charity auctions since 2010. His work was auctioned for the UK's homelessness charity,

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

, in collaboration with

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in 2010. In 2013, he donated work to the Mimi Foundation charity for cancer auction at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

. He donated work to the charity auction for

Peace One Day Peace One Day is a non-profit organisation whose objective is to institutionalise the International Day of Peace. It was founded in 1999 by British documentary filmmaker and actor Jeremy Gilley. History In 1999 Jeremy Gilley desired there be ...

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

, curated by Jake Chapman, in 2014 and 2015. In 2013 Quinn was commissioned to make a work for

RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

, marking the first time an artist collaborated with the flower show in its 100-year history. ''The Rush of Nature'' (2013) was auctioned at Sotheby’s to help raise money for RHS Chelsea Centenary Appeal. Work by Quinn was auctioned at the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation annual St. Tropez Gala in 2016, supporting environmental protection.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Marc 1964 births Living people 20th-century British sculptors 21st-century British sculptors 20th-century British painters 21st-century British painters Alumni of Robinson College, Cambridge British contemporary artists British male sculptors 21st-century sculptors BioArtists People educated at Millfield 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists