Marc Quinn’s stunning outdoor sculptures in new show at London landmark
Contemporary artist Marc Quinn is presenting a major exhibition at Kew Gardens over the course of summer.
It explores the relationship between people and plants by building on the artist’s long-standing interest in nature and the human experience.
‘Light into Life’ encompasses monumental sculptures across the Gardens alongside a dedicated presentation of works from the 1990s until today in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.
Organisers say the exhibition will offer ‘moments of thoughtful reflection and interaction throughout the Gardens.’
They add that the ‘exhibition examines our complex relationship with the natural world and represents one of the largest site-specific art projects at Kew to date.’
‘Light into Life’ features a selection of newly conceived artworks, developed through close collaboration with Kew’s scientists and horticulturists.
Working with specialists from a variety of fields including taxonomy and plant diversity, Marc Quinn creates pieces based on significant plants from the collections at Kew.
Interacting and existing within our environments
‘As humans we are not isolated from our environments; we interact and exist within them as a part of nature,’ explains Marc.
‘Collaborating with Kew, a world-class centre of botanical research, and its team of scientists and horticulturists, has underlined how integral the natural world is to my practice.’
‘The complex science of plants has always-and continues to-inspire my thinking as an artist.’
‘I look forward to presenting this extensive new body of work at Kew Gardens for the first time, as well as recontextualising previous works from the past 30 years in this unique and special setting.’
Amongst these is a large-scale series of sculptures based on herbarium specimens of plants which have inspired drug discovery, including the opium poppy which is a source of drugs used for the relief of pain.
These abstract sculptures tell the vital story of our reliance on the natural world for therapeutic treatments and provides a focus for our relationship with nature.
Portrait of Marc Quinn taken by Mary McCartney at Kew Gardens in Spring, 2024.
The theme is reflected by the ‘Held by Desire’ bronze bonsai sculpture which takes centre stage in the Temperate House, the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse.
Known the world over as the art of growing dwarf trees and shrubs, bonsai plants are kept at a consistently small size through careful pruning – perhaps the most painstaking manipulation of nature for aesthetic purposes.
‘Pushing the boundaries of contemporary art’
‘As a visionary artist with a remarkable background in pushing the boundaries of contemporary art, Marc Quinn expertly marries innovation and beauty in his creations,’ says Paul Denton, Head of Visitor Programmes and Exhibitions.
‘Kew Gardens offers the perfect living backdrop for this spectacular exhibition, and Light into Life promises to be a must-visit for summer 2024, inviting visitors to explore, contemplate, and rediscover their intrinsic connection to the natural world.’
Celebrating the magnificence of Kew’s 175 year old Palm House, Marc Quinn creates a series of new sculptural portraits of palm leaves based on the Bismarck and Sabal Palms from within the glasshouse, often described as Kew’s living laboratory.
These artworks will be emblematic manifestations of our relationship with trees and their role in the shelter, food and fabric of daily survival for billions of people across the world.
Created in polished stainless steel, the mirroring reminds us of the role of light in the creation of plants and all living things, and blurs the boundaries between viewer, plant and landscape.
New works on display in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art include Forecourt Herbarium, a reinterpretation of Kew’s seven million-strong collection of preserved plant specimens.
Light into Life: The Release of Oxygen. Image: Marc Quinn (provided by RBG Kew).
Nature as a fundamental part of humanity
Accompanying the sculptures will be a selection of existing artworks, many of which explore the idea of nature as a fundamental part of humanity, a prominent focus of Marc Quinn’s practice since the 1990s.
Also in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, a new exhibition in Gallery Six will include a selection of works from The Shirley Sherwood Collection, featuring botanical paintings co-curated by Dr Sherwood and Marc Quinn, alongside a selection of Marc Quinn’s drawings.
These works will reflect the plants which have inspired the artworks integral to Light into Life, including orchids, lilies, bonsai and coconut palms.
Accompanying books will be published by Kew Publishing. The exhibition included in Kew Gardens general admission: £1 Universal Credit ticket and £10 young person’s ticket available.
