Lorenzo Quinn. The Modern Genius
Lorenzo Quinn is one of the most recognizable, hugely acclaimed and highly celebrated contemporary figurative sculptors in the world. His distinctive and rather spectacular masterpieces can be seen around the world in cities like Milan, Venice, London, Mumbai and Doha among many others. He is best known for expressive recreations of human body, in particular the hands.
‘I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body’, he explains in one of his interviews. ‘The hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy.’
Lorenzo Quinn’s works of art are inspired by artists like Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Rodin. He explores many universal themes like love, equality, sharing, education through his thought-provoking art and supports many international environmental organisations. His work was also seen on the podium of Milan fashion Week and he has designed jewellery inspired by his art.
Lorenzo Quinn Biography
Lorenzo Quinn was born in Rome to the Oscar winning actor Anthony Quinn and the costume designer Iolanda Addolori. His spent his childhood living between Italy and the United States of America. He studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York and aspired to become a surrealist painter.
In his twenties, he had a short career as an actor, including playing alongside his father in Stradivari and a highly-acclaimed role as Salvador Dalí. Quinn won the best new actor award at the Biarritz Film Festival for his work on Dalí. This film became a turning point in his career, after playing Dali; he realized he needed to find his own niche as an artist and that was when he started moving towards sculpture.
Exhibitions and Fairs
Lorenzo Quinn has been creating his pieces of art for 20 years and his works appear throughout the world. His commission “Tree of life” which was created for United Nations was issued as a stamp. It was unveiled in October 2005 as part of a remembrance service in St Martin’s Church for servicemen who lost their lives during the Second World War and victims of the blitz in Birmingham. He explains that the sculpture symbolizes a search for the better future.
Another prominent and eye catching installation of Lorenzo Quinn is “Building Bridges” in Venice. It was installed in the basin of the Arsenale in Venice. Composed of six pairs of monumental hands, 15 meters high and 20 meters wide, the spectacular and enormous sculpture speaks of humanity’s commonality, with an emphasis of bridging differences in all aspects of life – geographically, philosophically, culturally and emotionally.
In his work “Support”, Lorenzo Quinn was addressing the climate change. The message that the installation conveys is to make small steps to reduce plastic, save water, make small adjustments to your daily life to protect our environment.
One of the most fascinating and the largest public sculptures of Lorenzo Quinn is “Rise through the Education” which was installed at ASPIRE, the Academy of Sports Excellence, in Doha. The artist’s commentary on the piece states:
‘A child is the most precious asset our future has. Our obligation is their guidance…. It is only through education and knowledge that a person may master his life.’
He also uses his creations for charity – he donated the sculpture “Hope” to the Blind Museum (Museo Tiflológico) in Madrid, Spain. In his recent Facebook and Instagram posts the sculptor expressed his huge concern regarding the devastating fires in Australia and urged people to donate Australia Red Cross to support the firefighting efforts in New South Wales.
Alongside numerous commissions, Lorenzo Quinn exhibited his works in art galleries and museums around the globe, holding shows at the Rafart Gallery in Spain, the Rarity Gallery in Greece, the Hewar Art Gallery in Saudi Arabia, the Marigold Gallery in India and the Ode to Art Gallery in Singapore. Quinn exhibited at a number of important international art fairs including Art Monaco ’13; Art Palm Beach; Miami International Art Fair; PINTA, London; SCOPE, New York and Art Toronto, Canada.
Lorenzo Quinn co-owns an Italian restaurant Galeria Gastronomica located in Barcelona, Spain which houses many of his sculptures. Most of the restaurant’s hardware items such as the cutlery were designed by him.
Lorenzo Quinn is one of the most talented sculptors of the modern day who uses his talent to address universal questions and celebrate eternal values through his thought-provoking art.
Follow Lorenzo Quinn’s work on on Instagram @LorenzoQuinnArtist and his website https://www.lorenzoquinn.com
Saw his work “Support” in Venice and immediately wanted to know the creator)) now I know? Thanks for this article ??
Thank you so much for the comment!