A dialogue between contemporary art and major works from the museum’s collection: for the first time, the Belvedere in Vienna is juxtaposing British artist Marc Quinn’s suite of works Emotional Detox with the iconic “character heads” of Baroque sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. Messerschmidt’s work has long been an inspiration for Quinn—the direct influence of the character heads on the creation of Emotional Detox can now be seen at the Upper Belvedere.
Marc Quinn’s eight life-size sculptural self-portraits are the product of a challenging period in the artist’s life. In the early 1990’s, Quinn was struggling to overcome the physical and emotional agony of alcohol withdrawal. During this period, he regularly visited the Messerschmidt sculpture The Strong Smell at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This powerful 18th-century depiction inspired Quinn to express his own experience in the Emotional Detox series. Using lead and wax, Quinn turned his feelings into physical expressions. Traces of the production process remain suspended in the materiality of each artwork. For this series of works that portray him in his own living hell, Quinn borrowed from the traditional iconography of the seven deadly sins. The demon at his throat is himself. The sculptor’s hands choke and poke his likeness, punch his face, press on his skull. The bust, which extends down to the waist, is lumpy, raw, riddled with holes. The hands are detached from the arms and have taken on a sadistic life of their own. The sculptor takes matters into his own hands and lays them on himself.
The desire to record the fleeting emotive qualities of facial expression and gesture, and to capture them through sculpture, connects Marc Quinn and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt over the centuries. Both artists use lead, a toxic substance that plays an essential role in the fabled alchemical transformation of lead into gold. The autobiographical works of both artists grapple with profoundly personal transitions and provide poignant self-dramatizations. Face to Face is the first time the works of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt and Marc Quinn have been exhibited together.
Curated by Stella Rollig, Artistic Director Belvedere.
Catalogue
Face to Face: Marc Quinn meets Franz Xaver Messerschmidt
Editors: Stella Rollig, Marc Quinn
Authors: Georg Lechner, Cat Marnell, Stella Rollig, Tim Smith-Laing, Lou Stoppard
Graphic Design: Kellenberger–White, London
Publisher: Buchhandlung Walther & Franz König
c. 192 pages, c. 94 illustrations
German and English Edition
ISBN 978-3-903327-01-6
Price: 19 EUR
Press contact: presse [at] belvedere.at / T +43 1 79 557-185
View press materials here.
