"The apparent immediacy and directness of drawing is much of the appeal for me, especially with dry materials — black charcoal, soft pastels, oil pastels — so everything is being captured in the moment, uninhibited by excessive thinking and over-intellectualization: there is no paralysis of analysis. In this way, I am able to follow how I feel, a more spiritual path, one that is not exactly tactile, an approach that’s a bit difficult to articulate — well, at least it is for me; I, no doubt, possess not the intellectual capacity to describe it — but, it’s an emotional experience that happens within a succession of moments, within the spiritual space of being present, where talent is aligned with work ethic, labour, and perseverance, where everything that seems to be understood or defined loses its structure and meaning, its belief systems and conditioning.” — Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Provenance
Luce Gallery, Turin Private Collection Private Collection Christie's, London, 4 October 2019, lot 34 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
Turin, Luce Gallery, Nathaniel Mary Quinn: St. Marks, 5 November 2016 - 12 January 2017
Having grown up as the youngest of five boys on the South Side of Chicago, artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn creates work that centers on family and youth. In his paintings and drawings of collaged figures, Quinn slices visual elements sourced from advertisements, Google images and his own photo albums: he takes on art historical themes and imbues them with deeply intimate and personal emotion.
Quinn was enamored with drawing from a young age. His brother Charles first noticed his talent and urged his mother to pay attention to it. In spite of his meteoric ascent as an artist, Quinn lost his mother while he was a student and, upon returning home to Chicago, discovered his family apartment had been deserted by his father and four brothers. As a result of loss and abandonment, the artist has said, “Grief was the constant background noise to whatever success I achieved.”