“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped, and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it. The best artist has that thought alone which is contained within the marble shell; the sculptor’s hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone. The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”

— Michelangelo

In Spring 2016 Quayola presented solo exhibition Laocoön at One Canada Square in London. The exhibition was a continuation of the artist’s ongoing research into iconography, whereby he abstracts classical sculptures using digital rendering and production techniques. In so doing, Quayola creates new spaces in which relationships between classical and contemporary art forms and themes can be re-thought.