Chiara Lecca: Wunderkammer
The exhibition Wunderkammer is not only the first exhibition by Italian artist Chiara Lecca (b. 1977) in the Czech Republic, but also her first major solo exhibition, which provides a comprehensive overview of her work.
Born in Modigliana, the artist explores the relationship between humans and nature in her work. Her goal is to give back to art what nature produces. To this end, she reworks organic and inorganic materials, transforming them into objects with a hybrid identity—an illusion that evokes wonder in the viewer and invites reflection. For example, the viewer encounters a bouquet of flowers that, at first glance, appears ordinary and decorative. Only upon closer inspection does it become clear that the flowers are made of dyed and cut-up rabbit fur. Other objects, on the other hand, resemble marble but are actually made of glass and dyed snakeskin.
In this exhibition, more than 30 works by the artist engage in a dialogue with eight works by Old Masters from the 16th to the 18th centuries, drawn from a major private collection. In a contemporary and grotesque sense, the exhibition thus draws on the concept of Rudolf II’s Cabinet of Curiosities: the fusion of art, nature, and wonder.
Chiara Lecca has held numerous exhibitions at private galleries and public institutions in Italy and Europe. These include, among others, the Museo MAN in Nuoro in 2024, the Galleria Fumagalli in Milan in 2023, the Monitor Gallery in Pereto (AQ) in 2021, the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium in Norway in 2018, such as Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, the Museum Schloss Moyland in Germany, Gaasbeek Castle in Belgium, and the MACRO in Rome in 2016. Additional exhibitions took place in 2013 at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, the Gallerie d’Italia, and Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, as well as at Kunst Meran/o Arte in 2009. Her work was also exhibited at the Palazzo Reale in Milan in 2016.
The artist's works are included in the collections of the Palazzo della Contea in Kassel (Germany), the Ottoneum Natural History Museum in Kassel (Germany), the Mus.t Museo Settore Territorio in Faenza, the Fondazione Ghisla Art Collection in Switzerland, and Kunst Meran/o Arte in Merano, among others.
The exhibition is being organized in collaboration with the Fumagalli Gallery in Milan. A four-language catalog will accompany the exhibition.
Curator and exhibition concept: Cyprián Činátl