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 Gagosien, 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
Gagosien Quarterly Fall 2019
The Fall 2019 issue of Gagosien 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
Art Fair
Art Basel 2023
June 13–18, 2022, Hall 2, booth B15
Messe Basel
artbasel.com
Gagosien 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.
Gagosien’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.
Gagosien’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
Artist Spotlight
Nathaniel Mary Quinn
January 27–February 2, 2021
In his 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 Dadaesque and adamantly realist, evoking the intimacy and intensity of a face-to-face encounter.
Photo: Eddie Lee
Museum Exhibitions
On View
X
A Decade of Collecting, 2012–2022
Through December 21, 2023
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
sheldonartmuseum.org
X: A Decade of Collecting, 2012–2022 is a survey of artworks acquired for the Sheldon Museum of Art’s collection over the past decade. The chosen works demonstrate the breadth of collecting efforts and are a modest representation of the approximately 1,875 pieces that have entered the museum’s holdings since 2012. The exhibition seeks to present a snapshot of how the collection continues to evolve. Work by Richard Avedon, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Andy Warhol, and Stanley Whitney is included.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Big Bertha, 2015 © Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Opening Soon
El eco de Picasso
October 3, 2023–March 31, 2024
Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain
museopicassomalaga.org
Organized as part of Picasso Celebración—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.
Richard Prince, Untitled (Picasso), 2011, Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, Madrid © Richard Prince. Photo: Pablo Asenjo
Closed
Ecstatic
Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection
June 10–August 27, 2023
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
hammer.ucla.edu
Presented in conjunction with the unveiling of the Hammer’s building expansion, Ecstatic highlights acquisitions made since 2005—the year the institution began collecting contemporary art. The exhibition is organized around two distinct installations of sculpture and works on paper that emphasize the role each medium plays within the scope of the museum’s collection. Work by Mark Grotjahn, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, and Jim Shaw is included.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Someday, 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles © Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Jeff McLane
Closed
Black American Portraits
February 8–June 30, 2023
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta
museum.spelman.edu
Remembering Two Centuries of Black American Art, guest curated by David Driskell at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976, Black American Portraits reframes portraiture to center Black American subjects, sitters, and spaces. Spanning more than two centuries from circa 1800 to the present day, this selection of approximately 140 works draws primarily from LACMA’s permanent collection and chronicles the ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture to envision themselves in their own eyes. Countering a visual culture that often demonizes Blackness and fetishizes the spectacle of Black pain, these images center love, abundance, family, community, and exuberance. This exhibition has traveled from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Work by Titus Kaphar and Nathaniel Mary Quinn is included.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Uncle Dope, 2017 © Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Michael Tropea
Press
« Dessiner m’a littéralement sauvé la vie. » Les âmes fragmentées de Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Connaissance des Arts
July 21, 2023
Online
PDF
Nathaniel Mary Quinn Untangles Truth, Memory, and Perception at Gagosien Paris by Laurent Moisi
Whitewall
July 13, 2023
Online
PDF
Nathaniel Mary Quinn: Not Far From Home; Still Far Away by Mary Hrbacek
Whitehot Magazine
October 27, 2021
Online
PDF
Exquisite Corpse: A Conversation with Nathaniel Mary Quinn by Evan Pricco
Juxtapoz
October 13, 2020
Online
PDF
Nathaniel Mary Quinn at Gagosien Beverly Hills by Shana Nys Dambrot
LA Weekly
September 24, 2019
Online
PDF
Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s First Show at Gagosien Is Full of Psychologically Intense Collage Portraits—See Them Here by Caroline Goldstein
Artnet
September 13, 2019
Online
PDF