He has worked with materials ranging from luncheon meat and chocolate to coins and tiny toys. Notably, he once created a piece about sugar cane child laborers out of sugar. But give Sao Paulo-born, Brooklyn-based artist Vik Muniz a pair of scissors, a stack of magazines, and a camera, and he can recreate some of art history’s most famous paintings, all in surprising detail. It’s a tad gimmicky, but it works. You want to reach out and touch the photo enlargements of his paper collages, even when viewing them on a computer screen.
As New York Times critic Roberta Smith wrote when reviewing his Pictures of Magazines 2 series last fall, “[Muniz] operates with impunity in the Bermuda Triangle bordered by commercial, popular and fine art, which can drive the art world a bit nuts. (He resembles David Hockney in this regard.) But he almost always puts on a good show in terms of sheer showmanship, and his current one is even better than usual. It reminds us that part of the razzle-dazzle of his art stems from physical texture, which almost no photographer has exploited with such optical richness.” Click through to check out a slideshow of the work, currently on display at Galerie Xippas in Paris, which we spotted thanks to Colossal.
Starry Night, after Van Gogh (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
The Card Players, after Cézanne (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Picking Flowers in a Field, after Mary Cassatt (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
A Bar at Folies bergères, after Edouard Manet (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Sick Bacchus, after Caravaggio (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2011. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Portrait of Adeline Ravoux, after Van Gogh (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Green Monkey, after George Stubbs (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2011. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Boy Blowing Bubbles, after Edouard Manet (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2011. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas
Fairy Roses, after Fantin-Latour (Pictures of Magazine 2), 2012. Digital C print. Image credit: Vik Muniz, courtesy of Galerie Xippas