Lorenzo Quinn Sculpture - VROOM VROOM

AT THE MODERN ART INSTITUTE OF VALENCIA

On 25 June 2010, a new sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn, son of the late Hollywood actor Anthony Quinn, entitled Vroom Vroom was unveiled outside the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, the oldest contemporary art museum in Spain.

The sculpture was originally going to be displayed outside the museum until 25 July, but its unprecedented popularity, as demonstrated by the crowds of people who flocked to the unveiling at the museum, has resulted in a direct request from IVAM to keep Vroom Vroom outside the museum until 22 August, a month longer than originally planned.

The museum's endorsement of Quinn's sculpture only serves to reinforce his standing within the international art community, and underpins his huge popularity with the public.

The four-metre high sculpture consists of a vintage Fiat 500, the first car that the sculptor ever bought, grasped by an oversized aluminium child's hand modelled from Quinn's son. The work alludes to the relationship between parents and their children and represents the independence and freedom Quinn felt when he bought his first car.

Quinn says:
'Each and every one of my art works is a little part of me, they are my experiences, thoughts, desires, feelings...
Vroom Vroom represents part of my independence, my freedom, my personal growth. This was the first car that I bought with the money I made from my early works. It was hard work, but the purchase was satisfying. I had obtained something I really wanted through my own effort. I did not depend on my parents anymore, I was grown up.
This car has been my talisman. One day a client visiting my studio said "that car is so small, it looks like a toy." This comment made me think: often the only difference between a child and an adult is the price of the toy.
Actually, this car was a toy to me, I worked hard to get it, and once I had it I enjoyed it like a child would. I think that over the years, social pressure makes us lose our innocence and excitement about the little things. We end up forgetting the child within.This sculpture represents the innocence and excitement about the little things that make us happy.'

25 JUNE - 22 AUGUST 2010