Viktor Wynd

Viktor Wynd
Birth nameRobert Wyndam Bucknell
Born (1976-11-05) November 5, 1976 (age 48)
London, U.K.
Occupations
  • artist
  • writer
  • museum director
Years active1995–present

Viktor Wynd is a British artist, author, and curator, known for his collections of curiosities.

Artwork

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Wynd established The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History in London's East End, a cabinet of curiosities featuring two-headed lambs, Fiji mermaids, unicorns, taxidermy, dodo bones, erotica, old master etchings, surrealist, occult and outsider art,[1] and celebrity faeces.[2] The museum was featured in a BBC Four documentary on cabinets of curiosity.[3][non-primary source needed]

He previously ran a curiosity shop, Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors, dealing in taxidermy, shrunken heads and other oddities,[4] including the erect mummified penis of a hanged man.[5] In 2010 it was reported that Jonathan Ross's wife Jane Goldman had bought the skeleton of a two-headed baby from the shop.[6]

He has curated around 50 exhibitions at his gallery, Viktor Wynd Fine Art, including exhibitions on Mervyn Peake,[7] Tessa Farmer,[8] Leonora Carrington,[9] and Stephen Tennant.[10]

In 2005, Wynd had an exhibition entitled "Structures of The Sublime: Towards a Greater Understanding of Chaos" at Ingalls & Associates in Miami, featuring drawings and video.[11][non-primary source needed]

In 2007 he had another exhibition in Miami entitled "The Sorrows of Young Wynd" (in reference to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) based around a waxwork figure of himself hanging by a noose from the middle of the gallery, and many other images of him committing suicide.[12][non-primary source needed]

He founded The Last Tuesday Society with David Piper in 2003,[citation needed] which became known in London for its halloween parties and masked balls,[13] often with literary themes.[14] He also organised Wyndstock, a festival held at Houghton Hall in Norfolk,[15] and runs a long-running literary salon in London.[16]

Other work

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Wynd is the author of two books: Structures of The Sublime: Towards a Greater Understanding of Chaos, a fragmentary, modernist anti-novel published in 2005 in Miami, and Viktor Wynd's Cabinet of Wonders, published by Prestel/Random House in 2014.[17][non-primary source needed]

Wynd wrote an essay about his friend Sebastian Horsley for Yale University Press's book Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion, compiled by Kate Irvin and Laurie Anne Brewer.[citation needed]

He has made several TV appearances, including the National Geographic documentary series Taboo.[citation needed] He has also lectured about cabinets of curiosities, his book and his museum at The Lost Lectures,[18] the British Library,[19] Manchester University,[20] 5x15,[21] and the Barbican.[22]

He is a committee member of the London Institute of 'Pataphysics.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Wainwright, Oliver (28 October 2014). "A two-headed lamb and ancient dildos: the UK's strangest new museum". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Celebrity Poo". National Geographic Channel. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
  3. ^ "BBC Four - Secret Knowledge, Wondrous Obsessions: The Cabinet of Curiosities". BBC.
  4. ^ "Little Shop of Horrors". Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Mr Wynd and The Little Shop of Horrors". Vogue.it. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Jonathan Ross' wife buys two-headed skeleton". Telegraph.co.uk. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Mervyn Peake: Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore - An exhibition of paintings and drawings". Mervynpeake.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. ^ "The Fairies Are Coming - Tessa Farmer". Magpiemag.tumblr.com. Magpie Magazine. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Leonora Carrington show!". Phantasmaphile.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Stephen Tennant at Viktor Wynd Fine Art Gallery". Rachaelgibson.co.uk. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Ingalls Current Exhibitions". Ingallsassociates.com.
  12. ^ "Ingalls Current Exhibitions". Ingallsassociates.com.
  13. ^ "Lives Less Ordinary: meet the dilettante". Time Out Blog. 15 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Five of the Best: Halloween Parties in London". Elleuk.com. 24 October 2012.
  15. ^ "KING'S LYNN: Wyndstock weekend's woody wonderland". Lynnnews.co.uk.
  16. ^ "Morbid Anatomy: The Viktor Wynd Museum: A New Museum of Curiosities in London Needs Your Help!". Morbidanatomy.blogspot.co.uk. 18 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Viktor Wynd's Cabinet of Wonders". Prestel Publishing. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  18. ^ The Lost Lectures. "Viktor Wynd". Thelostlectures.com.
  19. ^ "Crossroads of Curiosity The British Library meets Burning Man". The British Library. 12 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Whitworth Studies seminar: Viktor Wynd". Manchester.ac.uk.
  21. ^ "Viktor Wynd". 5x15stories.com.
  22. ^ "Barbican - Exhibition Tour with Viktor Wynd". Barbican.org.uk. 30 March 2023.
  23. ^ "The London Institute of 'Pataphysics - Introduction". Atlaspress.co.uk.