Lorenzo Quinn sculpture for Palma nearing completion

Lorenzo Quinn is putting the finishing touches to a giant sculpture for Palma, although he declined to reveal just where it will be placed. It is an enormous crystal sphere with the world carved on the surface. “Majorca is the centre of the world for Majorcans,” Quinn said and that is why a huge hand inside the sphere points to the only golden spot which represents the island. The globe is five metres in diameter and its metal structure supports a large glass area with the outline of the continents engraved on it. It will stand on a small grass-covered mound which will give the impression of being suspended and will be illuminated from inside at night. The work has been done with the collaboration of the Catalan maps department and it has been commissioned by Fundatur (the Balearic Tourist and Cultural Foundation) which will donate it to Palma. It is now being finished at the Fundición Artística Vilà in Valls, Tarragona. The sculpture is called Encuentros (Encounters) and Quinn hopes it will be the first of four on Balearic themes. He has already thought of one for Ibiza, called Libertad (Freedom) which may be situated at the entrance to the port. “Each island has its owns character, and so each sculpture will be different from the others,” Quinn said. The other two sculptures would be for Minorca and Formentera. The project will take four years. Quinn's relationship with the island started when he came here to make a film on Onassis, playing the role of the magnate's son. At that time, he explains, “I was still working as an actor to earn money and then dedicate all my time to sculpture.” He then met gallery owner Joan Oliver “Maneu” which led to an exhibition here. Quinn has been holidaying in Ibiza for the past few summers and has held several exhibitions in Majorca. He is planning an exhibition in Palma at the end of the year. Symbolic realism is the term Quinn uses to describe his work, and his chief aim is to “communicate with people and transmit messages, because art is communication.” The artist, the son of Anthony Quinn, now lives in Castelldefels /Barcelona). He was born in Rome and studied in New York, and living there would have been more interesting for his career, he says, but not for his development as a person and a father. He has no time for Hollywood, where only “money, big stars and well known directors count, instead of good scripts.” He adds that it would have been easy for him to continue acting, but finds the cinema “idealises everything, creating dreams which are unattainable and manipulated by others.”