David Quinn is known for his small-scale abstract paintings, intimate works inspired by book design, musical notation, signwriting, and the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—the acceptance of transience and imperfection.
At first glance, Quinn’s understated, minimal works may appear simple, but closer inspection reveals carefully layered surfaces built from pages, with repeated patterns of lines, dots, and grids. Muted colours and worn edges evoke both the passing of time and the tactile qualities of old paperback books. The familiar format allows Quinn to focus entirely on the painting itself, moving beyond conscious thought to reach an instinctive, meditative state, where the understated, multilayered surfaces of his works arise. He likens his practice to a form of poetry or visual haiku, expressing his thought processes through lines rather than words.
Quinn previously titled exhibitions and numbered individual works, but now gives each piece its own name. Recently, he has drawn titles from ancient towns and cities that no longer exist—places that, due to the limited knowledge we have of them, live on largely in the imagination.
Born in Dublin in 1971, Quinn lives and works in Sillelagh, County Wicklow. He studied visual communications at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) from 1989 to 1993 before embarking on his art career in 1995. His paintings have been exhibited internationally for three decades and can be found in collections worldwide.