David Quinn was born in Dublin in 1971. He studied visual communications at Dublin Institute of Technology from 1989 to 1993, a period of stimulating creativity, which, for the artist, materialised as notebooks. Indeed, in parallel to his academic work, Quinn jotted down every idea he deemed interesting, with no particular idea in mind for them. After a while, he realised their potential and used them as foundational concepts. This initial intimate practice has dictated much of the artist’s scale (8 x 5 inches) – a smaller and more private ‘notebook scale’ as Quinn phrases it. His main influences – Kurt Schwitters, Paul Klee, Agnes Martin, Charles Brady, Forrest Bess, Russian idols and Persian miniature painting – all adopt this more precious format.
Scale aside, temporality is the (indirect) core subject of much of his corpus. Each painting is a summary of the effort, craft, care and time it took to complete it, a compression of its own process. Visually, these small artworks are characterised by repeated patterns of lines, dots, and grids, with muted colours and worn edges. Drawing from poetry and music, they also speak to less evident influences, like Japanese wabi-sabi.
Recent solo shows include: New Work, Anima Mundi, St Ives, England (2022); New Work, Rossicontemporary, Brussels, Belgium (2022); Stookeen, Purdy Hicks, London, England (2021); Flume, Purdy Hicks, London, England (online) (2020); Verse, Rossicontemporary, Brussels (2020); David Quinn, Gana Art Hannam, Seoul (2019); Paintings, Yanagisawa Gallery, Tokyo (2018); New Paintings, Purdy Hicks, London (2018); Paintings, Rossicontemporary, Brussels, Belgium (2018); Paintings, West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, Ireland (2018); Undersong, Taylor Galleries, Dublin, Ireland (2017); New Work, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Ireland (2017); Start, Saatchi Gallery, London (2016); Blank, Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland (2016); Seam, Taylor Galleries, Dublin, Ireland (2015).
In 2015, Quinn was the recipient of the Tony O’Malley Studio Residency Award, Ireland. He has also completed residencies at Roundstone Arts Week (2005), Ballinglen Arts Foundation (2006) and Dublin Institute of Technology’s School of Art, Design & Printing (2012). In 2014 he received a bursary award from dlr Arts. He is co-curator of the ‘Lacuna’ exhibition series at Taylor Galleries, Dublin.
Quinn lives and works in Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow.
