Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s First Show at Gagosian Is Full of Psychologically Intense Collage Portraits—See Them Here

“Nathaniel Mary Quinn: Hollow and
Cut”
at Gagosian Beverly Hills

What the Gallery Says: “Quinn’s composite
portraits probe the relationship between perception and memory. He
rejects the notion of documentary portraiture; instead of depicting
physical likeness, he illuminates subconscious aspects of the human
psyche, coaxing forth manifestations of innate and repressed
emotions… He begins with a vision—a vague flash of a face from his
past—that he feels viscerally compelled to translate into reality.
To do so, he collects images from fashion magazines, newspapers,
advertising, and comics, reconceptualizing the snippets as purely
aesthetic imagery before methodically redrawing and repainting each
one.”

Why It’s Worth a Look: Ahead of his first
show since joining the all-powerful Gagosian empire, Nathaniel Mary
Quinn’s 2019 work Sinking graces the cover of the new
Gagosian Quarterly, and the magazine features an in-depth conversation with news anchor (and
noted art collector) Anderson Cooper. The show looks gorgeous, with
Quinn’s collage-style, hand-crafted compositions juxtaposed with
his speedy “enhanced performance” drawings, in which he uses both
hands to create on-the-spot portraits.

In the interview with Cooper, Quinn retells the story of his
name, how he took on the middle name “Mary” as a nod to his late
mother, and signs each of his works “Love Mom,” so that her memory
is inscribed in each one. The rapidly rising market phenomenon also
talks about the genesis of many of his works: after he meets his
subjects on the street, he uses his portraits to allude to some
aspect of their inner personality that might not come across in a
simple snapshot or straight drawing. Instead, he uses gouache, oil
stick, charcoal, pastels, gold leaf, and magazine images that make
for layered, nuanced artworks.

What It Looks Like: 

The post Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s First Show at Gagosian Is
Full of Psychologically Intense Collage Portraits—See Them Here
appeared first on artnet News.