Go See-New York: Marc Quinn ‘Iris’ at Mary Boone Gallery through December 19th 2009
November 6th, 2009
Iris (We share our chemistry with the stars) MQ 2801 (2009) by Marc Quinn, via Mary Boone Gallery
Currently on view at Mary Boone Gallery is Iris, featuring new paintings by Marc Quinn. Each work depicts large renditions of the iris of the human eye spotted and permeated with bright colors. Such new works refer back to Quinn’s recurring themes of the body and identity, flesh and the spirit. The works examine the significance of the eye, which since Biblical times have been likened to representations of the soul. The works also recall earlier works by Quinn such as Self (1991), in which the artist’s head was cast in his own blood, where he similarly examines the act of bringing the inside out.
Bayon Sunbow 67 (2009) by Marc Quinn, via Mary Boone Gallery
Vogue calls the show, “Breathlessly trippy, incontestably New Age-y.” The show displays a body of work that shifts between the physical and the otherworldly. In the artist’s own words, “They are like a leakage of the vivid interior world of the body to the monochrome world of the skin.”
Iris (We Share our Chemistry with the Stars) LG 280L (2009) by Marc Quinn, via Mary Boone Gallery
Born in London in 1964, he studied Art History at Cambridge University and began working as a sculptor in 1984. He is often categorized with the YBAs or Young British Artists. Self (1991), a sculpture in which a cast of the artist’s head made from 4.5 liters of his own blood, brought him more closely into the public eye. He has since exhibited in the United Kingdom and abroad, partaking in shows such as the Sydney Biennale in 1992, the Young British Artists II at the Saatchi Gallery in 1993, and “Sensation” at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1997.
Iris (We Share our Chemistry with the Stars) SO 200L (2009) by Marc Quinn, via Mary Boone Gallery
Related Links:
Press Release [Mary Boone Gallery]
Marc Quinn “Iris” [NY Art Beat]
The Short List [Vogue]
-R.A.P
