Lorenzo Quinn

Lorenzo Quinn (May 7, 1966) is an Italian artist and sculptor and son of the actor Anthony Quinn.

Biography

Quinn was born in Rome, Italy and is the son of actor Anthony Quinn. Quinn was raised between 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 Dalì and in 1988 he interpreted the Catalonian artist on the big screen. 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.

culpture

Quinn's sculpture is inspired by the great figurative masters, Michelangelo, Bernini, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Auguste Rodin. Each sculpture is first born in writing, whether it be Lorenzo's poetry or other literature. The image concept is then drafted on paper and 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 the Pope in Saint Peter's square in front of 35,000 people, and later placed in the Basilica del Santo in Padua, Italy, commemorating the eighth centennial of the saint's death.

On March 5th 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. The LMDC received an enormous outpouring of ideas from across the globe with 13,683 registrants and 5,201 Memorial submissions from 63 nations.

Lorenzo and a team entered with the design 'Angels of the World' [ [http://www.wtcsitememorial.org/ent/entI=858801.html World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition ] ]

The design 'Reflecting Abscence' by Michael Arad and Peter Walker was chosen as the winner.

Globe Of Life

His ongoing project, ‘The Globe Of Life’ which represents the hundred most important moments in history, looks set to be his most significant work to date, with five monumental bronze sculptures linking each continent.

"The Globe of Life" consists of a monumental bronze sculpture, in the form of a Globe, which dimensions are of 10 meters in diameter and that weighs 60 tons; 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 that cover its entire surface form "The Globe of Life" sculpture.

Each one represents in relief an important moment in history, to be precise, the one hundred most important moments in history. These moments cover all biological, cultural and technological aspects (i.e. the Big-Bang, the augmentation of the brain mass, the control of fire, the discovery of the wheel, the printing press, religion, the micro-chip, etc.).

The Globe's interior is conditioned to host 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.

The sculpture "The Globe of Life" has been conceived with the objective of uniting all peoples in the world through a better understanding of our common past. Thus, in example, when it refers to the subject of religion it represents it as the search for faith - an aspect shared by all religions -, without withholding itself on any religious doctrine in particular.

Exhibitions

Quinn has exhibited his works in galleries and museums around the globe. In February 2008, Halcyon Gallery in London inaugurated their new five-story contemporary gallery with his work. For the show, Quinn created many new art works including the controversial sculpture "Statistics" [cite web|url=http://www.art-london.co.uk/Exhibitions/halcyon-gallery.htm|title=International sculptor’s outcry over Iraq war death statistics as Anglo-American deaths reach 4,105|work=Art in London|accessdate=2008-04-13] initially in response to the Iraq war. The work represents the extensive loss of life in war and how people are numbed by the figures of death reported by the daily newspapers.

Commissions

Among other commissions, for the people of Birmingham, Quinn created the sculpture "Tree of Life" [cite web
title = Birmingham's Blitz victims remembered
work = BBC
date = 2005-10-07
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/10/04/memorial_feature.shtml
accessdate = 2008-04-23] representing those that had perished in the Birmingham air raids in World War Two.

He has also worked on commissions for the Sports Academy ASPIRE in the Gulf states, one of the world's largest, [http://www.aspire.qa/topics/index.asp?level=1&temp_type=44] and many in Spain where he currently lives with his wife and children.

Lorenzo 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. [ [http://www.washingtongreen.co.uk/artists/lorenzo_quinn/profile.asp Lorenzo Quinn - Artists - Washington Green ] ]

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 [ [http://www.lorenzoquinnlleida.es/ Lorenquinn Gallery ] ] in Almenar, Spain.

Lorenzo also designed the 'Ride The World' trophy for the MOTO GP championships [ [http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=751&fArticleId=377882 motoring.co.za - New MotoGP World Championship Trophy ] ]

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 [ [http://www.heathermills.org/about_awards.php Heather Mills - Heather's Awards ] ] and Phil Collins in 2005.

Galeria Gastronomica

Quinn also co-owns an Italian Restaurant "Galeria Gastronomica" [ [http://www.galeriagastronomica.com 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. [http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/OutPDir.jsp?nxtg=cffb0a240514-C565297F0A26B2A7&search=nla_CUNILL_Cutlery&mfr=CUNILL&node=2700421&doSearch=n]

References

External links

* [http://www.lorenzoquinn.com Official site]