The Gallery of Everything presents Secret Lives - a compendium of imagined flora and fauna, featuring the unnatural botany of Anna Zemánková (1908 - 1986) and the visionary ceramics of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910 – 1983).

Zemánková's art practice originated as a middle age hobby, a means to relieve herself from the complexities and conflicts of daily life. Encouraged by her artist son, she subsequently drew, shaded and stitched a spiritualist botany into being - unearthly post-floral images which suggested an obvious visual relationship to Czech mediumistic drawings from the turn of the 20th century. Zemánková's work was included by curator Massimiliano Gioni in Ostalgia (2011) at the New Museum in New York and the 55th Venice Biennale (2013). Zemánková was also central to The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre in London (2021) and has been selected for the International Exhibition of this year’s Venice Biennale (20.04.24 > 24.11.24) curated by Adriano Pedrosa.

Eugene von Bruenchenhein was a self-taught artist from Milwaukee. He spent most of his artistic life in relative seclusion. A baker during the day, his considerable passion for creating things made him a prolific artist. Bruenchenhein’s works can be found in prominent collections such as the American Folk Art Museum in New York and The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.