Marc Quinn sprung to fame in the early 1990's, with his bold and visionary sculptural self-portrait 'self'. Commonly known today as 'The blood head', Quinn created his self image from nine pints of his own blood extracted over five months which he preserved with plasma, anticoagulants and antibiotics, and poured into a frozen mould.
Born in London in 1964, the son of a physicist Father and artist Mother, he has evolved into a combination of the two. His exploration of form has incorporated materials as diverse as bread, bronze, coconut milk and human excrement. His recent exhibit at the Tate Liverpool included a cast of his baby sons' head that he has moulded using the child's placenta, freezing it in silicone.
Bringing together a wide variety of painting, sculpture, drawing and photography, Quinn's exhibition was described as 'teeming with ideas and remarkable images'. Marc Quinn is now celebrated as one of the most interesting exponents to have emerged from the Saatchi, and 'Young British Art' era.