ART CITIES:Geneva-Vik Muniz
Brazil’s leading artist on the international art scene, Vik Muniz is a multi-talented artist who most often works in 3-D materials to construct his images, which he then photographs to preserve the exact look, both formally and chromatically, envisioned in his mind when he began the piece. Works sold on the market are the limited edition photographs produced as the final result of these projects and are generally small editions of 10 or less.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Xippas Gallery Archive
In his new exhibition entitled “Handmade”, Vik Muniz explores the nature of perception, playing on the dichotomy between the object and its representation, and reinventing the possibilities of the construction of the photographic image. In this new series, Vik Muniz explores the nature of perception, playing on the dichotomy between the object and its representation, and reinventing the possibilities of the construction of the photographic image. The “handmade” works, as the title of the exhibition suggests, are the result of a hybrid process combining manual, or artisanal treatment (painting or collage) and high-resolution digital photography. The results are complex compositions, combining different techniques: paper and cardboard are painted, cut out and superimposed on a surface, before being photographed in order to allow for manipulation, rearranging and further photographing, and so on. By creating different planes which reveal underlying elements and their photographs, Vik Muniz invents real trompe-l’œil where the objects and their photographic representations are interlinked in a visual game. Inviting the spectator on a quest to distinguish between the object and its image, the artist pursues his research on the mechanisms of perception, a common thread throughout his work. Unlike previous series, where images from the history of art or from collective memory were interpreted with unusual, but also daily, materials, Handmade attests to the recourse to artistic materials such as paper, cardboard or metal. Hence, this series refers to the fundamental principles of abstract art: color, form and rhythm are used as the main components of composition. In the manner of Malevitch paintings, the simple geometrical forms and primary colors create a tension and a dynamic. The splitting of lines and geometrical elements into patches of color brings out a vibrant rhythm which echoes the compositions of Paul Klee, or minimalist musical partitions, with their infinite variations. The works in this series, akin to geometric abstraction or Cubist paintings, play on volume and movement, transcending the two dimensions of the photographic image both symbolically and literally, in order to reconnect with its materiality. The artist therefore experiments with photographic media and uses the technique of printing on aluminium to create compositions in three dimensions, where the layers of paint, shapes cut out in the metal, and the shadows duplicate each other and overlap, merging with their images. Like bas-reliefs, these volume works contain a simulation, hovering between “truth” and illusion, between reality and its double. The material trace of the artistic gesture which is therefore present in each piece alludes to the creation process without revealing it. On the contrary, it becomes increasingly mysterious as the eye loses itself, compelled to travel over the different planes of the image. The construction of the image thereby invites the viewer to deconstruct it by the gaze. The increasingly porous border between the object and its copy reveals the mechanism behind our ways of seeing and understanding the image. In the digital age, where images increasingly take the place of objects and their manipulation becomes an integral part of daily life, reproducibility becomes one of the legitimate principles of creation.
Info: Xippas Gallery, Rue des Sablons 6 & Rue des Bains 61, Geneva, Duration: 13/9-2/11/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-12:30 & 14:00-18:30, Sat 12:00-17:00, www.xippas.com
