ART SPATE: VIK MUNIZ GARBAGE ART

Vik Muniz is at the forefront of the Latin American generation of contemporary artists as well as being one of the most vibrant figures in the international contemporary art scene. Muniz works using unconventional materials such as diamonds, sugar, garbage, wire drawing, dust, caramel, jam and sawdust to create strictly crafted-like paintings inspired mostly by iconic pieces from Art History.

Yet these paintings are part of a process where the final artwork is a limited and small series of photographic images. He wishes for viewers to see more than simply “a representation of something” in his work, by showing them “how it happens.” This makes for a particularly rewarding experience, as the magic of one thing transformed into something else entirely can truly change how we perceive the world around us.

Vik Muniz was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1961. At the age of 18, Muniz worked in advertising in Brazil, redesigning billboards for higher readability. While on the way to his first black-tie gala, Muniz witnessed and attempted to break up a street fight, where he was accidentally shot in the leg by one of the brawlers. He was paid by the shooter to not press charges, and used the money to travel to New York.

After arriving in New York in 1983, Muniz's friend lent him a studio, and he started his career as a sculptor, resulting in his first solo exhibit in 1988. But at the end he completely focused on photography. Among his best-known works are a series of paintings entitled Pictures of Chocolate (1997), where he has re-produced emblematic images such as the Mona Lisa, Marilyn Monroe, and Chairman Mao with chocolate syrup. The Junk Series (1995) recreates Old Master paintings of classical gods and heroes with industrial rubble such as bottle caps, discarded tires, soda cans, and scrap metal. It was the three-years-production film Waste Land that increased his international exposure, not to mention its nomination for the 83rd Academy Awards.

Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (Devil's Playground, Blindsight and Countdown to zero) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

Muniz's work might be equally influenced by Pop artists such as Warhol, Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns as much as Mannerist artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. And unique visual language of Artist has kept him away from any categorization to date. His visual vocabulary does not necessarily address any local reference either and this has allowed him to secure a place within the international mainstream art market. His works have been acquired by MoMa, Tate Modern, the Metropolitan Museum and Israel Museum, among others. Muniz lives and works in New York.