“Methuselah”

Vik Muniz is one of the most prominent artists in contemporary Brazilian art. Known for using unusual materials, the artist expands the universe of photography and creates an illusory relationship with the viewer. He constructs his works by exploring physical collage and, in general, his production process involves three-dimensional creation and its transition to two-dimensional. Vik first draws an image with different materials, surfaces and scales, and then photographs it, condensing his perishable compositions into this lasting and reproducible object. He creates conflicting images that create the illusion in the viewer that the material is there, as they have an intense physical aspect. In addition, he revises, in a way, widespread images, creating a relationship between the figure and the material of its composition. In his artistic process, photography transitions between an instrument of documentation and creation.

Vik studied advertising at the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation and moved to New York in 1983. In his early work, he combined pre-existing objects, product design and advertising in three-dimensional pieces. He then began to create images from real objects, such as cotton, wire and thread, often based on works by renowned artists such as Alfred Stieglitz, Corot, Gerhard Richter and John Constable. However, he does not base his work solely on icons of art, but also creates compositions himself that can be photographed again when used in other materials.

The choice of materials is not random; it depends on the history of the creation of the photo or drawing, as well as the effect they produce. In the case of the first works made with sugar, for example, this element was chosen because the photographs on which he based himself were of children growing sugar cane on St. Kitts, a Caribbean island. In addition, the sweet grains also represented the grains that make up a photograph.

In addition to sugar, Vik Muniz has worked with chocolate, due to its malleability and texture; with dust from the Whitney Museum, recreating works from the museum's collection; with pasta and tomato sauce in a reinterpretation of the iconic "Medusa by Caravaggio"; even with trash, used to construct large-scale images of recyclable material collectors from the Jardim Gramacho landfill (Duque de Caxias – RJ) photographed by the artist, as can be seen in the award-winning documentary "Waste Land" (2010).

Among his exhibitions, we can highlight those held at MoMA (New York), the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Tel Aviv Museum, the Museo Banco de la Republica (Bogotá), the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (Dublin), the MAM - Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, the MASP - Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo, the International Center of Photography (New York), the Art Institute of Chicago, in addition to the 24th São Paulo International Biennial.