Each of the five pieces in the series, a console, a table, a side table, a bench and a desk is made in a limited-edition of 8. The iceberg desk appears as a frozen block of pure-white roughly hewn matte staturio marble. As though it has been sliced clean off, the table top is inlaid with highly pigmented semi-precious stones delineating an abundant orgy of supernatural flora and fauna. A hidden column section pulls out to reveal a marble sculpted chair and foot well, completing its seamless transition from an artwork into a functional object. In each work, the optical effect of the smooth and mirror polished stone surface in contrast to the natural matte texture of the marble sides, reveals on how we perceive objects through the science of light - reflected on the polished surface, refracted through the jewelled flowers or suffused through the natural, rough Carrara marble. In these works, Quinn explores the technique of ‘pietra dura' whereby semi precious stones are intricately inlaid into marble. The origins of the craft are much debated, stemming from antiquity and revived in the Medici family workshop but also evident in the Taj Mahal. Quinn is the first contemporary artist, and one of the most interesting exponents of the YBAs, to work on such an ambitious design project. First artist represented by Jay Jopling, Marc Quinn is also represented by the French modern and contemporary art Galerie Hopkins Custot. And was exhibited in Charles Saatchi's defining Sensation. The Carpenters Workshop Gallery specialises in bringing artistic positioning to design, through an ambitious program of exhibits they avoid categorisation by uniting conceptual and functional works which strive to challenge and enlighten. The gallery represents the celebrated collective Atelier Van Lieshout and lauded artist Robert Stadler who is exhibiting at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in September 2008 in Paris.
