Lorenzo Quinn

Biography

Quinn was born in Rome, Italy, and is the son of the Mexican American actor Anthony Quinn and Iolanda Quinn (Jolanda Addolori). Quinn was raised in both the United States and Italy and presently lives in Barcelona, Spain. It was in Rome where he discovered his love for art and started out as a painter in 1982, training at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York.

Quinn was attracted to acting where he interpreted roles such as Antonio Stradivari as the young violin maker with his father Anthony Quinn playing the elder. Quinn, having started painting, had always been an admirer of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and in 1991 he interpreted the Spanish artist in the film Dalí, alongside English actress Sarah Douglas portraying his wife Gala. Quinn achieved the best new actor award at the Biarritz Film Festival. However, it was by working in this role that Quinn decided his own career needed a change of direction and so he phased out acting to dedicate himself solely to art.

Sculpture

Quinn's sculpture begins in writing, either his own poetry or other literature. The image is then drafted on paper, then a smaller model is created.

By the age of 21 he gained the respect of the New York art community when he was commissioned to make an art work for the United Nations of which a stamp was later made. Quinn was later selected to head the Absolut Vodka ad campaign for which only top international artists are chosen.

Shortly after, in 1994, Quinn was commissioned by the Vatican to create a sculpture of Saint Anthony. The sculpture was blessed by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's square, and later placed in the Basilica del Santo in Padua, Italy, commemorating the eighth centennial of the saint's death.

On March 5, 2002, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announced a competition, in which the jury would select a design for a memorial that would pay respect to all those died in the World Trade Center attack. Quinn and a team entered with the design 'Angels of the World'.

Globe of Life

Quinn's ongoing project, 'The Globe of Life' which represents the hundred most important moments in history, features five monumental bronze sculptures linking each continent. It is a monumental bronze sculpture, in the form of a Globe 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter and weighing 60 tonnes (132,000 lb); two very large hands outstretched towards the heavens above of three and one half meters have been placed on its top. One hundred bronze plaques cover its entire surface. Each one represents in relief an important moment in history, whether biological, cultural or technological, such as the Big Bang, the augmentation of the brain mass, the control of fire, the discovery of the wheel, the printing press, religion, and the microchip.

The Globe's interior hosts an interactive exhibition. The visitor will experience a virtual reality show: three-dimensional holographic images will explain our passage through time. The reality show will be based on the reasons for choosing the one hundred moments and their respective importance for the Human Evolution. The public will also be able to connect in real time with the other copies of the Globe, one for each Continent.

Exhibitions

Quinn has exhibited his works in galleries and museums around the globe.

For the 2013 Art Basel Miami Event Week, Lorenzo Quinn will have presence at Context Art Miami, as well as a solo exhibition titled Poems at / Galleria Ca' d'Oro in the heart of the Miami Design District in collaboration with Halcyon Gallery.

In 2008 Evolution, a major exhibition of Quinn’s output, was chosen to inaugurate the new premises of Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair, London, and the gallery published a book on his work. Many of the sculptures in Evolution featured the symbol that has become synonymous with Quinn: the human hand. ‘I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body’, he explains. ‘The hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy. I have injected a lifetime of experience into Evolution; it is about my past, present and future.’

Equilibrium, an exhibition of Quinn’s monumental sculptures, followed in November 2009, coinciding with the installation of Give and Take III in Berkeley Square for six months. Included in the show were several new sculptures, including What Came First? – male and female forms lying in egg-shaped hemispheres – and Home Sweet Home – a marble woman cocooned in barbed wire.

Commissions

Among other commissions, for the people of Birmingham, Quinn created the sculpture Tree of Life representing those that had perished in the Birmingham air raids in World War II.

He has also worked on commissions for the Sports Academy ASPIRE in the Gulf states, one of the world's largest, and many in Spain where he currently lives with his wife and children.

Quinn has also created the monumental sculpture Encounters, commissioned by Fundatur and donated to the city of Mallorca in 2003. It is now situated opposite the Museum of Modern art in Palma de Mallorca.

Pushing the boundaries of his practice, Quinn created a "living sculpture" in the city of Sant Climent de Llobregat in Barcelona.

He also has a permanent exhibition at the Rafart Gallery in Almenar, Spain.

Quinn designed the 'Ride The World' trophy for the MOTO GP championships.

Charity

Quinn supports many charities. Proceeds from the sale of his sculpture Friendship Fish went to environmental causes. He has also been a patron for many charities and was a Young Artists Patron for Unesco. He donated the sculpture Hope to the Blind Museum (Museo Tiflológico) in Madrid, Spain. He also designed the "Children In Need" award which was awarded to Heather Mills and Phil Collins in 2005.

Galeria Gastronomica

Quinn also co-owns an Italian Restaurant Galeria Gastronomica situated in Barcelona, which is also the setting for many of his sculptures. Most of the restaurant's hardware items such as the cutlery were designed by him.