Nika Kuk’s
Chamber of Marvels

Bio-bio

Nika Kuk came into the world in Moscow, to be more precise, at the Maternity Hospital Number 7, known as the ‘Grauerman’ on New Arbat. In the heavens above, a roaring Leo made way for Virgo, while on the ground, Gladioli and Flox were in bloom and there were watermelons to be had from Astrakhan.

As a child, Nika dreamed that one day she would be an ice-cream seller, or become a vet, or a biologist and as well as that – an artist and a cosmonaut. As a blooming young girl she kissed frogs among the jars of formalin in the Department of Biology at the Lomonossov State University and awaited the arrival of a Prince.  She made drawings of  the classic perfection of ‘David’ and the lines and creases of naked old ladies in life classes. She took part in archaeological expeditions and reconstructed ancient artifacts. Nika has not yet managed to get to Cape Canaveral, but some of her childhood dreams have become reality.

The artist Nika works with themes from Mythology and Embryology. Through numerous zoological investigations into Mythology she has created her very own Bestiary. And her collection,  ‘Nika Kuk’s Chamber of Marvels’ can be interpreted as a refinement of what she found among the formalin filled jars of the University Biological Institute.

Selected work

Exhibitions

2005
“Between”
Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art
2005
video “Test”
Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Digital Art
2006
Video “Sunflower seeds”
NCCA
2007
Video “yogurt und chocolate”
NCCA
2009 – 2010
Clinches
Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art/ Petrozavodsk Art Zentrum/ Universität der Kunst Berlin
2011
Poznań Biennale of Contemporary Art
Poland
2011
Crazy Curators Bratislava
Slovakai
2012
Videoinstallation  „Love“
Museum of Konenkova. Moscow Russia
2015
Milch und Blut
Alte Apotheke Museum, Tula, Russia
2018
Schlangen Märchen
PostGallery Berlin
2020
Minnie die Eva, The Body Language
Palazzo Ca Zanardi, Venice, Italy
2020
Pain Cakes
Hermitage Gallery, Berlin
2021
Tears of Lycurgus
Klingental 9 Garten, Basel
2022
Bitte mit Sahne!
Floating University Berlin