Search results for ""author viktor wynd""

For over a decade, from a tiny storefront in east London, the artist Viktor Wynd has been reinventing the cabinet of curiosities for the twenty-first century. The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History is now one of the city’s most tantalising tourist destinations. Wynd first introduced his worldview in the book Viktor Wynd’s Cabinet of Wonders, which John Waters called “an insanely delightful how-to guide . . . told with lunatic humour and absolute joy.” In this new volume, he takes readers on a tour inside his mildly-twisted mind, delving deeper into his philosophy of collecting, and describing personal connections to the objects he treasures. Written in his trademark charismatic style, which blends whimsical stories with odd facts and obscure references, this book is filled with lavish and theatrical photographs and drawings. Loosely organised into thematic chapters, it ponders the beauty of skulls and masks; explores beasts, freaks, monsters, fairies, and mermaids; covers magical plants, hallucinogens, erotica, and dandies; and dips into the world of the occult. This might not be a book for everyone. However, it is a book everyone interested in cabinets of curiosities should have on their shelf.

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Fully illustrated hardback catalogue to the exhibition Viktor Wynd’s UnNatural History Museum within The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall running until December 2022 Introduced by The Museum’s Director Richard Doughty With Essays by art historian Adrain Dannatt, artist Mark Dion, Historian of Museums Arthur MacGregor & Richard Pell – Director of The Center for Postnatural History Viktor Wynd’s UnNatural History Museum Myth, Magick, Legends, Love & Freaks, Welcome to the inside of artist Viktor Wynd’s mind, a place peopled by Unicorns, Fairies, Giants, Mermaids, myths, legends and dreams. A voyage to the monsters that live in the depths of his subconscious, from a two headed kitten and a two headed teddy bear to a selkie’s foot, a babie’s caul and a magical jar of moles. Viktor Wynd is a ‘pataphysical artist who uses museum objects in the way that other artists use tubes of paint, a writer who presents his novel on hand written museum labels. Founder and proprietor, since 2009, of London’s infamous & eponymous Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History he invites you to come in. enjoy and exit through The Egress

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and essays on Austin Osman Spare by Phil Baker, on Stephen Tennant by Philip Hoare and on Voodoo in Coastal Benin by Dr. Louise Fenton. Stephen Pochin of Jerusalem Press has curated a special selection of Spare’s singular art featuring animals. From cats and dogs, to eagles, owls, horses, and satyrs we have corralled a rich cross-section of fauna. From early drawings to late pastels in colour, this themed survey spans 50 years of this visionary London artist’s uncanny art. “Forgotten and famous at the same time, Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956) is now a cult figure, much mythologized since his death. Controversial enfant terrible of the Edwardian art world, Spare was hailed as a genius and a new Aubrey Beardsley, but instead, he fell out of the West End art scene and went underground, living in poverty and obscurity in South London. Absorbed in occultism and sorcery, voyaging into inner dimensions and surrounding himself with cats and familiar spirits, he continued to produce extraordinary art while developing a magical philosophy of pleasure, obsession, and the subjective nature of reality.” – Phil Baker

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