Jay Kupjack Appears on a Meet the Miniaturist Livestream!

I'm thrilled to share this replay of a very special Meet the Miniaturist livestream from Gallery Victor in Chicago where Wonderkammer (Cabinet of Curiosities) is currently on exhibition featuring a number of Kupjack Roomboxes created by Hank and Jay Kupjack, the talented sons of Eugene Kupjack of the famed Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Chicago Art Institute.

We were treated with a private walk through of the exhibition by Victor Armendariz and joined by special guest, Jay Kupjack! This was a rare opportunity to see these awesome roomboxes up close and heard directly from the artist about his work. The chat box was open throughout and we took as many questions as possible.

Adapted from the Gallery Press Release: Wunderkammers, or cabinets of curiosities, arose in mid-sixteenth-century Europe as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects, sometimes filling entire rooms. These collections mark the intersection of superstition, science, and man-made objects and are precursors to museums.

Mr. Armendariz (pictured above) says: "Gallery Victor is thrilled to be the first Chicago gallery to showcase the Kupjack Miniature Rooms. Eugene Kupjack (1912-1991) worked with Mrs. Narcissa Niblack Thorne on the Art Institute’s treasured Thorne Miniature Rooms. Son’s Hank (1951-2019) and Jay (b. 1953) learned the craft from their father. The Kupjack Miniature Rooms are a perfect addition to our Wunderkammer exhibit."

Eugene Kupjack and his sons Hank and Jay created museum quality miniature rooms in their studio outside of Chicago for many years. Hank and Jay learned the at their father’s side as he assisted Mrs. Narcissa Niblack Thorne with the creation her many miniature rooms now housed at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Almost every piece of molding, furniture, rugs, and accessory items that are contained in their rooms are designed and created by hand. In addition to designing and building rooms they would sometimes work to restore the rooms built many years ago by their father and Mrs. Thorne.

Their work can be seen in various museums as far away as Turkey where they were exhibited in 2009. In the United States their work can be seen in the permanent collections of The Kentucky Museum Center, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Philadelphia Art Museum, The Knoxville Art Museum, The Indiana Children’s Museum, The Baltimore Museum, The Naples Museum, Winterthur Museum Garden and Library, The Palm Springs Desert Museum and The Forbes Collection.

Founded in 2017, Gallery Victor Armendariz exhibits compelling contemporary art in a variety of media by both established and emerging artists. The gallery's current exhibition, Wunderkammer, will be open through March 31, 2022