Lorenzo Quinn. Anime di Venezia – Souls of Venice

Artistic Director Alberto Toso Fei
Curated by Chiara Squarcina

Anime di Venezia – Souls of Venice is the new creation of Italian-American artist Lorenzo Quinn, which will be on display in Venice until 15 September 2024, commemorating the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death.

Comprised of 15 statues made of a metallic mesh weave of thousands of links, the installation presents some of the most significant ‘Souls’ that have lived over the centuries of the Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima, sealing the union and symbiosis between the city and all its artistic expressions that have seen these Venetians as the protagonists that have helped make the city immortal.

The fascinating installation is located in the Atrium of Ca‘ Rezzonico, the splendid and imposing building overlooking the Grand Canal and designed by Baldassare Longhena, home to the Museum of Eighteenth-Century Venice. It is a refreshing and iconic project that indelibly marks the bond of love between Venice and Lorenzo Quinn.

Anime di Venezia – Souls of Venice is indeed an absolute novelty in Quinn’s production: for the first time, a work with a historical background, designed specifically for the museum, „comes to life“ thanks to the introduction of a contemporary tool: augmented reality, expressed through a poetic and magical vision.

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Free admission

IMAGE GALLERY: Photo Speranzoni Wladimiro

Lorenzo Quinn

Lorenzo Quinn is an internationally renowned Italian-American figurative sculptor, born in Rome in 1966. During his years of study at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York, Quinn realised that, among all the arts, his future would be in sculpture. All his public art works, as well as his smaller pieces, convey his passion for eternal values and authentic emotions.

Over the last two decades, Lorenzo Quinn’s works have been exhibited around the world. The communicative power and immediacy of the message are the elements that characterise his sculptures, especially the monumental works of public art that Quinn has displayed in many prestigious international contexts, captivating global audiences, often with charitable and philanthropic purpose: in Park Lane, Berkely Square, and in Cadogan Gardens in London; in the courtyard of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg; at Windsor Castle in Berkshire; at the Casina Valadier in Rome; in front of the Church of St Martin in Birmingham; in front of Palermo Cathedral; at the Paramount Group skyscraper on Avenue of Americas in New York; and at the Museum of Modern Art in Palma de Mallorca; on the seafront of Doha in Qatar; on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai with a view over the Huangpu River.

Among the monumental works are Support (2017), displayed in Venice – the hands of a child emerging from the water of the Grand Canal to support Ca‘ Sagredo, symbolising the beauty and fragility of the city – Building Bridges (2019), at the Arsenal of Venice – six pairs of hands representing the six universally recognised values as essentials: friendship, wisdom, help, faith, hope, and love. Give (2020) also installed in the Boboli Gardens of the Uffizi in Florence, to testify to the importance of „giving“. Among the latest works, Baby 3.0 installed in the Garden of the Metropolitan City (2022) in Venice with which the Artist hopes for a new Rebirth of Humanity. Also of strong impact is Together (2021), a land art work first presented in Cannes and then in the “Forever is Now” exhibition in Egypt, on the occasion of the first contemporary art event held at the UNESCO site of the Pyramids of Giza; The Greatest Goal (2022) on the occasion of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Building Bridges in Vieste (2023), and Paint your Life (2024) in Caorle (Venice).