Marc Quinn
We share our chemistry with the Stars , 2014
Oil on canvas
ø 200cm
In order to empathize with Quinn's way of seeing the world, the human being, nature and culture, one needs to view it all from where he resides as an artist:...
In order to empathize with Quinn's way of seeing the world, the human being, nature and culture, one needs to view it all from where he resides as an artist: in "the littoral zone". Denoting the region lying along a shore, the littoral zone is an important concept in evolutionary theory. It marks the middle ground between ocean and land enabling the first fish to venture onto land eventually giving rise to human beings.
Understanding the littoral zone as the transitional space where creativity is at its most extreme and profound, Quinn appropriates this scientific concept and gives it an artistic meaning. His paintings of the eye reflect this understanding. By focusing on the iris, the human body's "doorway to the world", Quinn invites the viewer to think about how the eye functions as both a biological machine and also as the symbols of our individual worldviews.
Quinn highlights this point in "The New Eye" by overlaying the continents on the image of the eye, turning the eye into a globe. Thus Quinn transforms the eye from the main instrument by which we see the physical world, and create and experience the visual arts into the art work itself.
© Cigdem Mirol
Understanding the littoral zone as the transitional space where creativity is at its most extreme and profound, Quinn appropriates this scientific concept and gives it an artistic meaning. His paintings of the eye reflect this understanding. By focusing on the iris, the human body's "doorway to the world", Quinn invites the viewer to think about how the eye functions as both a biological machine and also as the symbols of our individual worldviews.
Quinn highlights this point in "The New Eye" by overlaying the continents on the image of the eye, turning the eye into a globe. Thus Quinn transforms the eye from the main instrument by which we see the physical world, and create and experience the visual arts into the art work itself.
© Cigdem Mirol