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Lot Essay
Marc Quinn's work explores issues of mortality, beauty, and the intriguing space between art and science. A central figure within the Young British Artist (YBA) phenomenon - one of the most important art movements in the late 1980s, including fellow artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin - Quinn's work uses a variety of different media ranging from photography and sculpture to drawing and painting. Continuously pushing the boundaries between art and science, the artist explores innovative techniques to produce his works, such as freezing his own blood to create a cast of his head in Self (1991), or dipping bloomed flowers in a vat of frozen silicone to create his sculptural series Eternal Spring (1998), and his subsequent installation Garden (2000) at the Fondazione Prada in Milan.
Flowers have been a central subject to this artist's oeuvre. Musk Oxen of the Zaire Flood Plane depicts a combination of hyperrealist renderings of flowers and fruits, influenced by his earlier garden installation. Quinn states that his flower paintings "are a celebration of colour, life, and sensuality." A contemporary take on the traditional still-life genre, Quinn's use of rich vibrant colours, as well as his densely arranged, close-up flowers and fruits are depicted in a baroque, sumptuous, and meticulous manner. Furthermore, he evokes artists such as the Post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh and American Modernist Georgia O'Keeffe in asserting an underlying fertility to his flowers, one that is visceral, feminine, and dominant.
Quinn's work has been exhibited in a number of museums around the world including, Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2009), British Museum (2008), Tate Liverpool (2002), Fondazione Prada, Milan (2000), Tate Gallery, London (1995). Quinn has also participated in important group exhibitions and biennials including the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), Guangdong Museum of Art and Capital Museum Beijing, China (2006), the Gwangju Biennale (2004), the 50th Venice Biennale (2003), and the Victoria Albert Museum, London (2001).
Flowers have been a central subject to this artist's oeuvre. Musk Oxen of the Zaire Flood Plane depicts a combination of hyperrealist renderings of flowers and fruits, influenced by his earlier garden installation. Quinn states that his flower paintings "are a celebration of colour, life, and sensuality." A contemporary take on the traditional still-life genre, Quinn's use of rich vibrant colours, as well as his densely arranged, close-up flowers and fruits are depicted in a baroque, sumptuous, and meticulous manner. Furthermore, he evokes artists such as the Post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh and American Modernist Georgia O'Keeffe in asserting an underlying fertility to his flowers, one that is visceral, feminine, and dominant.
Quinn's work has been exhibited in a number of museums around the world including, Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2009), British Museum (2008), Tate Liverpool (2002), Fondazione Prada, Milan (2000), Tate Gallery, London (1995). Quinn has also participated in important group exhibitions and biennials including the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), Guangdong Museum of Art and Capital Museum Beijing, China (2006), the Gwangju Biennale (2004), the 50th Venice Biennale (2003), and the Victoria Albert Museum, London (2001).