Lorenzo Quinn

Lorenzo Quinn sculpture hand of god


 

Quinn was born in Rome, Italy and is the son of the Mexican American actor Anthony Quinn and Jolanda Quinn (Jolanda Addolori). Quinn was raised in both the United States and Italy and presently lives in Barcelona, Spain. It was in Rome where he discovered his love for art and started out as a painter in 1982, studying at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York.

Quinn was attracted to acting. He interpreted roles such as Antonio Stradivari as the young violin maker together with his father Anthony Quinn playing the elder. Quinn, as a painter, has always been an admirer of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and in 1991 he interpreted the Spanish artist on the big screen, alongside English actress Sarah Douglas portraying his wife Gala. Quinn achieved the best new actor award at the Biarritz Film Festival. However, it was when Quinn played the role of Salvador Dali, that he decided his own career needed a change of direction and so he phased out acting to dedicate himself solely to art.

Sculpture

Quinn’s sculptures begin in writing, either his own poetry or other literature. The image is then drafted on paper, then a smaller model is created.By the age of 21 he gained the respect of the New York art community when he was commissioned to make an artwork for the United Nations of which a stamp was later made. Quinn was later selected to head the Absolut Vodka ad campaign for which only top international artists are chosen.

Shortly after, in 1994, Quinn was commissioned by the Vatican to create a sculpture of Saint Anthony. The sculpture was blessed by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s square, and later placed in the Basilica del Santo in Padua, Italy, commemorating the eighth centennial of the saint’s death.

On March 5, 2002, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announced a competition, in which the jury would select a design for a memorial that would pay respect to all those died in the World Trade Center attack. Quinn and a team entered with the design ‘Angels of the World’.