Joan and Jack Quinn represent a crucial moment in art history, as Los Angeles came to symbolize an innovative and prolific brand of creative freedom. On the Edge: Los Angeles Art from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection, explores the experimental approaches to minimalism and new materials from the 1960s to 2000s, the diversification of practices and makers, and the vital role the Quinns played in both documenting and contributing to the story of Los Angeles art. Revealed is a period of artmaking that is pivotal to understanding current practices and the west coast mentality, and collectively exudes a unique spirit of anti-conformity and the “California Cool” ethos.

This exhibition brings together an outstanding collection of artworks that define the history of contemporary art in Los Angeles as it came to symbolize an innovative and prolific brand of creative freedom found nowhere else in the world.The exhibition highlights the family’s collection, primarily amassed from the 1960s to 2000s. Works in the exhibition will explore what have become today’s mainstream themes in art movements and highlight how the Quinn family has formed friendships, supported and promoted major artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Larry Bell, Lynda Benglis, Vija Celmins, Billy Al Bengston, Kenneth Price, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Carol Caroompas, Ed Moses, Astrid Preston, Ed Ruscha  and many more.

The exhibition is divided into three sections: artworks made for or that depict the Quinn family that share the personal relationship between artists and family; exceptional examples of artwork acquired by the Quinn family; and a third section of portraits of Joan. Andy Warhol first encouraged Joan Quinn to have her portrait created, a tradition she has continued which forms a large portion of the collection.

Journalist and art collector Joan Agajanian Quinn is the co-host of  Beverly Hills View and has been producer and host of the Joan Quinn Profiles for over 35 years.  The Los Angeles native was West Coast Editor of Andy Warhol’s Interview and the founding West Coast Editor of Condé Nast Traveler. As the Editor of Steve Samiof’s Stuff magazine and Society Editor known as “Culture Cween” for Hearst’s Los Angeles Herald Examiner, she had been affably referred to as the Gertrude Stein of her day.

Joan and her late husband, attorney John J. Quinn, with twin daughters Jennifer and Amanda, have supported the arts for over 60 years, notably Southern California contemporary.  She was appointed to the boards of the California Film Commission, the California Arts Council, and for over 15 years has championed women’s rights & sustainability as an AIWA NGO to the U.N. Currently, Quinn sits on the executive committee of the Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA), the Cedars-Sinai Hospital Arts Advisory Council, is a vice-president of the L.A. Music Center’s Blue Ribbon and is a trustee for the Armenian Museum of America in Boston. In 2017 Joan Agajanian Quinn received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.