MAUREEN QUIN

“My art is my life, and to evoke a response from the viewer is to share part of my life.” ~ Maureen Quin

MASTER SCULPTOR - MAUREEN (VIVIAN) QUIN

Tenacious and dynamic, Maureen Quin has exhibited her works regularly since 1962 in solo and group exhibitions.

Her passion for sculpting as a medium of artistic expression is evident in the over two hundred sculptures in a variety of materials such as wood, fibreglass and bronze she has created as a professional sculptress.

Born in 1934 on “Bishops Glen” in the Bloemfontein district, schooled at Eunice High School, Maureen won a bursary for the School of Fine Arts in Durban (1952 -1955), where she studied under Mary Stainbank.

On completion of her diploma she was granted a bursary to study sculpture at the Goldsmith College of Art in London with Robert Jones and Harold Parker. (1956)

“Her work constitutes without a doubt a solid investigation of the form and the spirit of man. Figures which often appear to be deprived of volume succeed in scanning the horizons (limits) of time.
She succeeds in fusing the abstract and figurative world of Henry Moore, the surrealism of Giacometti and the world of Africa, all mixed with the most intimate essence of the artist herself.” Dr Agurtxane Urraca, Goya, Revista De Arte, Madrid 2001.

Maureen Quin’s keen sense of observation and classical training has enabled her to produce sculptures which are in all aspects alive. Although her training was “Western”, her most characteristic work is essentially African. Practising her art away from the mainstream art centres, isolated from the influence of her colleagues, Maureen has successfully commented on topical social concerns.

This is evident in “The Hunt” series where the degradation of our surroundings for material gain is illustrated, and in “The Interaction” series, from which “Thanksgiving” and “Revelation” are drawn, which is a series of work that praises the positive, caring interaction between societies.

Her latest sculpture “Culprit” expresses her revulsion for child abuse and male dominance through sex. The rhinoceros mask represents the senseless destruction of species for the use of aphrodisiacs for male gratification.

In 2014 to celebrate Maureen’s eightieth year and sixty years as a professional sculptress, Virginia Reed curated a retrospective exhibition which opened in March 2014 at Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein; in May it showed at the North West University in Potchefstroom; in Bellville at the Sanlam Gallery in July - September. In October it opened in East London at the Ann Bryant Gallery.

To complete the tour the retrospective closed at the GFI Art Gallery in Port Elizabeth, March 2015. This retrospective emphasized the fine quality of work Maureen has produced in her career and has entrenched her as an artist who has left her mark on the South African art community.

Education

1952-1954
Dip Fine Arts, Technical College, Durban

1955
Goldsmith College of Art

Exhibitions

2016
Wildlife, adventure and narrative, annual wildlife exhibition at The Cape Gallery

2015
The Dance of Life, a collection of sculptures and drawings at The Cape Gallery

2014
Pause; the annual wildlife exhibition at The Cape Gallery

2011
Annual wild life exhibition at The Cape Gallery

Exhibited more than 40 solo exhibitions and participated in 23 group exhibitions.

Awards
1990
Silver Medal for contribution to Sculpture in South Africa by the University of Pretoria.

2000
Arts and Culture Award from the Eastern Cape Government for contributing to 3d arts in the Eastern Cape.

2016
On the 29th of June Maureen Quin was awarded the 2016 Medal of Honour for Visual Art from the South African Academy of Science and Culture at a prestigious event at the Atterbury Theater in Pretoria.

Twenty-five years ago saw the opening of the Quin Sculpture Garden and Gallery to the public and since then this mecca of art has become a major attraction for art loving people from all over the country and world.

The collection of more than 100 sculptures, paintings and sketches on view, represent a lifetime of work extending from Maureen’s student days in London, to her latest sculptures. In her garden wildlife studies, portrait busts and figure studies are beautifully displayed at water features and amongst shrubs and trees.

In the well-appointed gallery, her collection of sculptures include the thought provoking “Hunt Series” displayed in a specially designed gallery, the “Ballet Series” and the “Interaction Series” of sculptures, while in adjoining gallery her pencil and charcoal sketches are on view.

The collection affords viewers a visual experience of her progression through stages of development, always dynamic in her approach to her subject matter while retaining the essential aesthetic and artistic values of composition and balance between form and space.

“My art is my life, and to evoke a response from the viewer is to share part of my life.” ~ Maureen Quin

Quin Sculpture Garden, Between Bush and Sea in Alexandria
✒️ Piet Koerant, Roaming Reporter
Quin Sculpture Garden
📍 5 Suid Street, Alexandria 6175
📞 0827708000 or 046-6530121
🌐 https://quin-art.co.za/