AO Art Observed™

Self (1991) by Marc Quinn, via Culture Loves Us

The National Portrait Gallery, home to portraits of major British figures such as kings, queens, and prime ministers, has set its eyes on acquiring ‘Self,’ a sculptural self-portrait of Marc Quinn made from ten pints of his own frozen blood. Marc Quinn–one of the most celebrated of the YBAs (Young British Artists) along with Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin–has made three sculptures using his blood as the raw material since 1991, and has said that he plans on making similar sculptures every five years until he is unable to. The original ‘Self’ was acquired by advertising magnate Charles Saatchi for £13,000; White Cube Gallery is offering the NPG the most recent iteration (dating from 2006) for £350,000, with its open market value being quoted at £1.5 million. The Art Fund and several other sources have committed £150,000 to acquiring the work, leaving £200,000 which the NPG needs to raise by December 31st.

National Portrait Gallery criticised over purchase of Marc Quinn’s Blood Head [TimesUK]
National Portrait Gallery Raises Money for Self-Portrait Made From Frozen Blood [ArtInfo]
Museum needs £200,000 for Marc Quinn’s blood portrait [The Art Newspaper]

Previously:
Go See: ‘Statuephilia’ at The British Museum today through January 25th [ArtObserved]
Marc Quinn’s gigantic baby sculpture up for private auction by Sotheby’s [ArtObserved]

Marc Quinn, Siren, 2008, Gold - via Telegraph

Today, The British Museum opened Statuephilia - a show of five major contemporary sculptures by five leading British artists - Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Ron Mueck, Antony Gormley, and Noble and Webster. The works are placed separately throughout the museum’s permanent collection in their respective relevant historical contexts. The exhibition includes Siren, Marc Quinn’s life size solid 18 carat gold statue of Kate Moss in a Yoga position which is set in the museum’s Nereid Room among ancient statues of Greek goddesses which was previously covered by AO here.

Images from Statuephilia [Telegraph]
Statuephilia Opens [Art Daily]
Kate Moss: The Muse [Independent]
Marc Quinn Immortalizes Kate Moss [TimesUK]
Solid gold Moss statue revealed [BBC]
Statuephilia at The British Museum Website

More images and links after the jump.
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Planet (2008) by Marc Quinn, via London Telegraph

In a literal and symbolic sign of how large the scale contemporary art market has become, a seven ton, ten metre sculpture of a seven-month-old baby is up for sale to private individuals at the aptly named Beyond Limits, a Sotheby’s selling exhibition at Chatsworth, the Peak District home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The piece entitled “Planet” is one of more than twenty sculptures on display this week at Sotheby’s. The behemoth work is a bronze cast painted in a brilliant shade of white and is modeled after an earlier version inspired by a mold of the artist’s baby son. The work was produced by Marc Quinn, who achieved prominence and notoriety when his sculpture of Alison Lapper (a disabled, pregnant friend of Quinn’s and fellow artist) was placed on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square in 2005. Recently the artist reveled a teaser image of his golden statute of Kate Moss which will be unveiled at the Statuephilia exhibit at the British Museum, previously covered here.

Larger than life [Financial Times]
Giant baby for sale [London Telegraph]
Giant baby for sale on grounds of Chatsworth House [Telegraph]
Golden Kate Moss joins other goddesses at the British Museum’s ‘Statuephilia’ [ArtObserved]

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Charlotte Rampling will star in ‘Boogie Woogie’ via carmenhaid.com

In November of this year ‘Boogie Woogie’ a comedy lampooning the fine art world is set to be released. Boogie Woogie has a strong cast and is directed by the documentary film maker Duncan Ward, who is the husband of art curator Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst. The film is based on a novel published in 2000 and written by Danny Moynihan, who was once curator and is a friend of the artist Damien Hirst. Hirst created a limited-edition cover for the book which featured works by Sarah Lucas, Marc Quinn and Jeff Koons. Additionally, Charles Saatchi was quoted in the jacket comments for the book.

Top-notch cast lined up for art world spoof [Guardian UK]
Boogie Woogie movie detail [IMDB]
Boogie Woogie the novel [Amazon]
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Gold Kate Moss sculpture (left), Kate Moss (Right) via Telegraph

British sculptor Marc Quinn is about to unveil the golden sculpture of celebrity, Kate Moss, 34, as part of the  Statuephilia exhibit at the British Museum.  Entitled Siren, it is reportedly the largest golden sculpture created since ancient Egypt.  However, the ’solid’ gold sculpture is actually hollow, weighing exactly110 pounds (50kgs). Moss’s modern ideal beauty is immortalized and will be on display among statue of ancient goddesses like naked Aphrodite and Venus.  Quinn remarked, “I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who’s the ideal beauty of the moment, but even Kate Moss doesn’t live up to the image.” At the moment, the British Museum has revealed only a teaser image, therefore only a glimpse of the statue’s face is publicized.  Following the similar theme of his previous Kate Moss-series Sphinx show, held in New York last year, covered by Art Observed, Moss will be captured in a seemingly uncomfortable yogic pose.

Kate Moss gets the golden touch as she’s immortalised in gold [Daily Mail]
Statuephilia - Contemporary Sculptors at the British Museum [Art Daily]
Solid gold statue of Kate Moss unveiled at British Museum [Telegraph]
Kate Moss Joins Gild: Mega-Statue Museum-Bound [E Online]
A model who’s worth her weight in gold (50kg, to be precise) [The Independent]
Marc Quinn’s 18 Carat Gold Kate Moss [The World's Best Ever]
Marc Quinn to Unveil Gold Kate Moss “Sphinx” Sculpture [Supertouch]
The British Museum
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Marc Quinn via White Cube

London’s White Cube Gallery is hosting  Marc Quinn’s new exhibition called “Evolution”. Quinn’s latest offering returns to physical forms in a series of monumental sculptures of human fetuses in different stages of gestation. The show runs from the 25th of January to February 23rd.

In town last night: Marc Quinn at White Cube [The First Post]
Quinn’s Sculptures at White Cube [The Independant]
White Cube [White cube Gallery]

The Fourth Plinth via The National Gallery

The Fourth Plinth, built in 1851, remained unused for 147 years, until the National Gallery began a rolling program to display select artists’ works on it. Jeremy Deller, Tracy Emin, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Yinka Shinibare, and Bob & Roberta Smith are currently competing for the spot. Artists such as Marc Quinn have been on the Plinth.

Competing for the Plinth [The National Gallery]

This month and next, British sculptor Marc Quinn brings his most recent exhibition, “Sphinx,” to New York’s Mary Boone Gallery. Known best for creating busts out of frozen blood and sculptures that depict the limbless, Quinn tackles a new form in Sphinx. Attempting to comment on mortality alongside divinity (each work in the exhibit is titled after a different Greek god or goddess), Sphinx features a collection of sculptures of supermodel Kate Moss, each twisted into a different Yogic position.The piece titled “Sphinx (Road to Enlightenment),” perhaps the exhibitions stand-out work, is unpainted bronze, unlike the majority of painted sculptures, and portrays Moss in a Buddha-like position, complete with robes and an exposed ribcage. Other sculptures feature Moss in a less overtly religious, yet equally posed form. (more…)