26.01.2011.

M A R C.Q U I N N

"SELF"

Marc Quinn was born in 1964 and is a British artist. He studied history and the history of art at Robinson College in Cambridge whilst he worked as an assistant to the sculptor Barry Flanagan. Quinn has exhibited exhibitions including Sonsbeed ’93, Arnhem in 1993, Give and Take, Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2001 and so on.

Quinn’s wide-range of work displays of the body and what defines the human life such as spiritual and physical, surface and depth, intellectual and sexual. Whilst using a variety of materials, from ice and blood to glass, marble or lead, he develops into experimental, conceptual works that are mostly figurative.

Self (2001)

Marc Quinn’s project called “Self” is currently ongoing. It is a frozen sculpture of his head made from 4.5 litres of his own blood taken from his body over a period of 5 months. This cast called “self” was created in his late 20s in 1991 and he continues to do the same process every 5 years, each of which documents Quinn’s own physical transformation and deterioration. His work is carefully maintained in a refrigeration unit. This piece was bought by Charles Saatchi in 1991 for £13,000 and was exhibited when he opened his new gallery in London in 2003.