About
Each of us is a cacophony of experience. Not just a seamless self.
—Nathaniel Mary Quinn
In his collage-like composite portraits derived from sources both personal and found, Nathaniel Mary Quinn probes the relationship between visual memory and perception. Fragments of images taken from online sources, fashion magazines, and family photographs come together to form hybrid faces and figures that are at once neo-Dada and adamantly realist, evoking the intimacy and intensity of a face-to-face encounter.
Quinn’s passion for drawing began at a young age, while he was growing up on the South Side of Chicago. In ninth grade, he received a scholarship to attend Culver Academies boarding school in Indiana—but a month after arriving at the school, Quinn received news from his father that his mother had suddenly passed away. He returned to Chicago for Thanksgiving the following month, only to find that the rest of his family—his father and brothers—had abandoned his childhood home without a trace. This jarring experience further propelled Quinn’s art, and he decided to commit himself to his education, adding his mother’s name, Mary, to his name so that she would appear on all of his degrees. He received a BA in art and psychology from Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 2000, and an MFA from New York University in 2002.
After completing his MFA, Quinn moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he continued to paint while working as a teacher for at-risk youth. In 2013 he had a breakthrough, developing a new technique that would draw wide attention to his work. The mother of one of his students invited Quinn to show five works in an art salon that she was hosting in her home. On the day of the opening, however, he only had four works finished. Improvising, he began to paint a blurred memory of his past, piecing together fragments of images from his subconscious. When he stepped back, he recognized the mouth of his brother Charles.
Photo: Kyle Dorosz
#NathanielMaryQuinn
Exhibitions
The Bigger Picture
Exalt: Youth Justice Can’t Stop
As 2020 came to a close, Nathaniel Mary Quinn spoke with Gisele Castro, executive director of exalt, a New York City nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of court-involved youth by providing a path to success through effective educational engagement. Quinn is a former educator at exalt and now serves as a member of the organization’s board.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn: In the Studio
Hear the painter describe the creation of a new work in this time-lapse documentation of his process.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn
A statement from the artist.
In Conversation
Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Troy Carter
On the evening before the opening of his first exhibition with Gagosian, in Beverly Hills, Nathaniel Mary Quinn joined Troy Carter for a conversation at LA’s Hammer Museum. They spoke about deliverance, Quinn’s new work, and what drives him to make art.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Anderson Cooper spoke with the artist at his Brooklyn studio about his childhood and the visionary nature of his art.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Fall 2019
The Fall 2019 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring a detail from Sinking (2019) by Nathaniel Mary Quinn on its cover.
Visions of the Self: Jenny Saville on Rembrandt
Jenny Saville reveals the process behind her new self-portrait, painted in response to Rembrandt’s masterpiece Self-Portrait with Two Circles.
Fairs, Events & Announcements
Lecture
New York Studio School Evening Lecture Series
Nathaniel Mary Quinn: Work Ethic and Faith
Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 6:30pm
New York Studio School
nyss.org
Nathaniel Mary Quinn will be a guest speaker at the New York Studio School as part of their Evening Lecture Series, a platform for diverse perspectives and spirited conversations among artists, scholars, students, and the general public. The in-person and online event is free to attend and will include a question-and-answer session.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Ike Edeani
Art Fair
Art Basel 2023
June 13–18, 2022, Hall 2, booth B15
Messe Basel
artbasel.com
Gagosian is pleased to participate in Art Basel 2023 with modern and contemporary works by gallery artists, as well as special entries in the Unlimited and Parcours sections of the fair.
Gagosian’s presentation in the main section of Art Basel represents the breadth and diversity of the gallery’s programming through work by artists including John Currin, Andreas Gursky, Simon Hantaï, Tetsuya Ishida, Jia Aili, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Rick Lowe, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Sarah Sze, Mary Weatherford, Anna Weyant, Rachel Whiteread, Stanley Whitney, and Jordan Wolfson, among others. Also featured are iconic works by Willem de Kooning, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol.
Gagosian’s booth at Art Basel 2023. Artwork, left to right: © John Currin; © Rudolf Stingel; © 2023 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © 2023 The Willem de Kooning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Jonas Wood; © Anna Weyant; © Jenny Saville; © Cy Twombly Foundation. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
In Conversation
The Un-Private Collection
Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Donna Augustin-Quinn
Saturday, November 20, 2021, 2pm
The Broad, Los Angeles
www.thebroad.org
As part of the Un-Private Collection, an ongoing series of public programs organized by the Broad, Los Angeles, Nathaniel Mary Quinn will be joined by actress, director, writer, and producer Donna Augustin-Quinn. The pair will discuss Quinn’s work in the Broad’s collection, as well as the artist’s practice at large. The talk is being held in conjunction with the exhibition Since Unveiling: Selected Acquisitions of a Decade, on view at the Broad through April 3, 2022. To attend the event, purchase tickets at ticketing.thebroad.org.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Kyle Dorosz
Museum Exhibitions
Opening this Week
Revolutions
Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960
March 22, 2024–April 20, 2025
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
hirshhorn.si.edu
Revolutions is a major survey of 270 artworks by 126 artists from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s permanent collection. Celebrating the museum’s fiftieth anniversary, the exhibition aims to capture the shifting cultural landscapes of a century defined by new currents in science and philosophy and ever-increasing mechanization. Shown alongside these historic works are contributions from nineteen contemporary artists whose practices demonstrate how many revolutionary ideas from a hundred years ago remain critical today. Work by Francis Bacon, Amoako Boafo, Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Rick Lowe, Sally Mann, Man Ray, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, and Cy Twombly is included.
Rick Lowe, Fire #4: This Time Athens, 2023, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC © Rick Lowe Studio
On View
El eco de Picasso
Through March 31, 2024
Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain
museopicassomalaga.org
Organized as part of Picasso Celebration 1973–2023, a series of international exhibitions and events commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, The Echo of Picasso focuses on his influence on twentieth-century art. The exhibition places Picasso’s practice in dialogue with work by more than fifty artists, including Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning, Thomas Houseago, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Richard Prince, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Cy Twombly, Tom Wesselmann, and Franz West.
Installation view, El eco de Picasso, Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain, October 2, 2023–March 31, 2024. Artwork, left to right: © Rebecca Warren, © Richard Prince. Photo: Pablo Asenjo, courtesy Museo Picasso Málaga
On View
The Time Is Always Now
Artists Reframe the Black Figure
Through May 19, 2024
National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk
The Time Is Always Now showcases the work of contemporary artists from the African diaspora and highlights their use of figures to illuminate the richness and complexity of Black life. The exhibition examines both the presence and the absence of Black figures in Western art history and the social, psychological, and cultural contexts in which they were produced. Work by Titus Kaphar and Nathaniel Mary Quinn is included.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Father Stretch My Hands, 2021 © Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Rob McKeever
Closed
Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Split Face
October 7, 2023–March 11, 2024
Museo Novecento and Museo Stefano Bardini, Florence, Italy
www.museonovecento.it
Split Face is Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s first monographic exhibition in Italy and is held across two locations in Florence: Museo Novecento and Museo Stefano Bardini. A selection of Quinn’s paintings, many of which have never been seen before, is presented alongside the works of Renaissance artists and twentieth-century masters including Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Felice Casorati, Virgilio Guidi, Carlo Levi, and many others.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, After Pontormo’s Portrait of Alessandro de’ Medici, 2023 © Nathaniel Mary Quinn