British| Contemporary Art

b. 1964

Marc Quinn is one of the founding figures of the British contemporary art movement.
A graduate from Robinson College in Cambridge with a degree in the history of art in 1985, Quinn worked as an assistant to the sculptor Barry Flanagan before exhibiting his own work in the early 1990s.

Quinn creates provocative sculptural portraits composed of organic materials, such as in his series of “Blood Head” self-portraits in which a cast of his head is made with his own frozen blood.

Quinn also fabricates sculptures using bronze, often depicting people with unusual physical characteristics, such as amputees, or those who have undergone sex-change surgery. One of his most famous projects was the public installation of Alison Lapper Pregnant, a monumental marble sculpture of a woman born without arms and with shortened legs.

Quinn explores identity, sexuality, and beauty of existence through various paintings, installations and sculptures, ranging from psychedelic flowers to sculptures of supermodel Kate Moss tied up in yogic knots. Equally diverse are his materials, which include bread, DNA, ice, feces, and the placenta and blood.

Quinn lives and works in London.