Koen Vanmechelen's Hybrid Marble and Glass Creatures at Fondazione Berengo in Venice

Koen Vanmechelen (Sint-Truiden, 1965) presents the series 'Temptation' at Fondazione Berengo Art Space in Venice, where marble busts of ancient emperors, philosophers, and gods from the Uffizi Galleries become nests for fantastical glass creatures. The works evoke the chimera, mixing animal parts across species. Vanmechelen's obsession with eggs and roosters is central: he breeds, crosses, and even mummifies his roosters, creating marble sarcophagi for them. In the glass furnace room, two large chandeliers feature eggshells and raptor claws. The exhibition includes 'Black Medusa' referencing Greco-Roman mythology, a marble hand 'Connection' reminiscent of Constantine's colossal statue, narwhal horns on prehistoric skulls, lion heads on Komodo dragon bodies, and a child strangling an iguana-like creature echoing Boethus of Chalcedon's 'Boy Strangling a Goose'. The 'Generation Cosmopolitan Chicken Project' is represented by the sarcophagus of the 23rd generation, crossbred from Mechelse Maatiaskana and Padovana hens.