Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn is a contemporary British artist. His artistic practice explores the human form, its relationship with nature and beauty, the quest for identity, genetics, the passing of time, human history and evolution. Quinn examines these themes through paintings, sculptures and monumental installation pieces. On the borderline between abstraction and ultra-realism, Quinn combines scientific knowledge and artistic expression to produce groundbreaking works such as his DNA portrait of the genetic scientist Sir John Sulston. As an artist he rose to prominence in 1991 with his controversial sculpture Self, a self-portrait made with ten pints of Quinn’s own blood and kept ‘alive’ at sub-zero temperatures. The artist has received international acclaim for his series of sculptures featuring the supermodel Kate Moss contorting in diverse yogic poses.

This piece is a sublime exemplar of Quinn’s well known photorealist paintings of irises. Created using an airbrush, the eye is enlarged to the point that it appears visually abstract. Considered the window to the soul, Quinn connects his series of irises to the environment, the body and genetics, the geopolitical challenges and the erosion of our media-saturated senses.