Marc Quinn, The Toxic Sublime, White Cube, London

The Toxic Sublime is Marc Quinn’s first exhibition at White Cube London since 2010, and is the culmination of two years of investigation into natural phenomena and our distanced and complex relationship with the environment. Pieces from The Toxic Sublime series feature distorted, three-dimensional seascapes that blur the boundaries between painting and sculpture. They begin with an inherently contradictory artistic gesture whereby Quinn submits a photograph on canvas of a sunrise to a process of aggressive alteration. Alongside the artist’s paintings, a new series of sculptures, minimal arcs in stainless steel, including one measuring over 7m long, form part of a body of work titled Frozen Waves. These primal, gestural shapes originate from the remnants of shells, eroded by the endless action of the waves.