Quinn: A Journey
Temporarily closed due to COVID-19.
Quinn is an installation by photographer, artist and writer Lottie Davies.
It is the fictional story of a young man, William Henry Quinn, who walks from the south west of England to the far north of Scotland in post-Second World War Britain. Although fictional, the work responds to the real-world experiences of young men and women post-trauma in the early 20th century and now.
The project comprises large-format photographs, moving image pieces, ephemera and text vignettes, taking the viewer through a multi-dimensional experience. It is a meditation on grief, loss, loneliness, the human search for meaning, and the possibility of redemption through time and landscape.
Visitors will be immersed into Quinn’s journey through photographs, written narrative, moving image pieces and objects - creating a multi-dimensional experience.
The artist behind the exhibition, award-winning photographer Lottie Davies presents her first focuses on personal histories entirely fictional body of work in ‘Quinn’. Her work is concerned with stories and personal histories, employing a deliberate reworking of our visual vocabulary, playing on our notions of nostalgia and visual conventions with the intention of evoking a sense of recognition. Her work has been described by the former National Portrait Gallery Director Sandy Nairne as ‘brilliantly imaginative’.
Francis Ranford, Cultural and Creative Director of Culture Coventry: “Quinn’s journey is one that explores such a variety of themes that are relatable to the modern audience, and the ability to interact with his possessions through the installations gives a much closer look inside his story.
“Coventry is the UK’s official City of Peace and Reconciliation, so to have the exhibition which explores these themes of peace and loss shown in a city which has experienced first-hand what the war was like, is a crucial way of highlighting our history and reconnecting with it.
“This is a brave, bold exhibition which explores issues around mental health and loneliness that are as pertinent today as they were in the immediate aftermath of the war.”
Free Entry | #QuinnCoventry
Curated by Dr Rachel Marsden, and produced by Elizabeth Wewiora and Charlie Booth.
Exhibition Event
Quinn: Performance & In Conversation
17 May 2020, 1.45pm start
Location: Coventry Cathedral (continues onto Herbert Art Gallery & Museum)