Vik Muniz

Chocolate, ink, ketchup and dust are but some of the unusual drawing materials used by Vik Muniz. With the surface of a light-box as his canvas, Muniz creates drawings then photographs and enlarges them to become thoughtful and playful appropriations. Muniz says that one of his aims is to have viewers look more closely at the original source of his subjects (work by well known artists, famous icons, etc.) and to realize how the material alters the meaning of the picture. The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim Museum, New York City, the Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C. and the Tate Gallery, London, are among the many institutions that collect his work.