Having grown up as the youngest of five boys on the South Side of Chicago, artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn creates work that centers on family and youth. In his paintings and drawings of collaged figures, Quinn slices visual elements sourced from advertisements, Google images and his own photo albums: he takes on art historical themes and imbues them with deeply intimate and personal emotion.

Quinn was enamored with drawing from a young age. His brother Charles first noticed his talent and urged his mother to pay attention to it. In spite of his meteoric ascent as an artist, Quinn lost his mother while he was a student and, upon returning home to Chicago, discovered his family apartment had been deserted by his father and four brothers. As a result of loss and abandonment, the artist has said, “Grief was the constant background noise to whatever success I achieved.”