Marc Quinn (1964 – )

Marc Quinn is a British artist best know for his unique approach to figurative sculpture.

Born in 1964, Quinn studied History and History of Art at Cambridge during which time he worked as an assistant to the sculptor Barry Flanagan. He came to national prominence in the early 1990’s when his sculpture Self (1991) was exhibited as part of Charles Sacchi’s Sensation exhibition. The piece, a kind of death head, self portrait, was created from 10 pints of the artist’s blood and kept frozen at -12 degrees.

This interest in unusual figurative representation and the scientific preservation of nature is reflected in works such as Sphinx (2006) an alabaster sculpture of the model Kate Moss in an impossible Yogic pose, and Garden (2000) made for designer Muccia Prada, in which a disparate collection of plants were cryogenically frozen to allow them to eternally co-exist. Photographic images of this project are represented in the British Council Collection.

Other notable exhibitions include The Blind Leading the Blind (1995), Jay Jopling/White Cube, London, Fondazione Prada, Milan (2000), Tate Liverpool (2002) The Complete Marbles, Mary Boone Gallery, New York (2004), Evolution (2008) White Cube, London and most recently an exhibition at Casa Giuleta, Verona during the 53rd Venice Biennale of Art.

In 2004 Quinn was awarded the Fourth Plinth Commission for which he presented a sculpture entitled Alison Lapper Pregnant, a white marble depiction of the eponymous single mother who was born without arms and with shortened legs.
Quinn is represented by White Cube Gallery in London, and Mary Boone Gallery in New York. He lives and works in London.
www.marcquinn.com