Sao Paolo, Brazil-born artist Vik Muniz is debuting a new series of shredded collage work on January 16, and you're getting a sneak peek! The artist obsessively collects vintage photographs and postcards and then shreds and collages these pieces to create bold new imagery magnified to a staggering scale. They're for his recent Album and Postcards from Nowhere series for Ben Brown Fine Arts in Hong Kong, his second solo exhibition there. You'll remember Muniz as the artist who takes unusual materials like dust, sugar, chocolate, diamonds, caviar, and toys and assembles them together until he makes familiar images. Who could forget his junkyard masterpieces?
Muniz is known to be a compulsive collector, he's amassed a treasure trove of anonymous vintage family photographs and albums over the years. He's fascinated by the personal value of these objects, which depict life's important milestones, yet he finds these materials to be formulaic, making them impersonal and even interchangeable.
As Ben Brown Fine Arts states, “In the Postcards from Nowhere series Muniz similarly explores ideas of memory, nostalgia and intimacy through his collection of vintage postcards repurposed to create vibrant vistas of iconic cities and landmarks around the world, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai skylines, the Great Wall of China, and Piccadilly Circus in London. Muniz is interested in the history of sending and collecting postcards as a recollection of one's travels and a form of communication, which has since been replaced by the instantaneous nature of modern technology. The thick format of the vintage photographs collaged together, coupled with the studio lighting used to photograph them, result in a three-dimensional, tactile quality in these monumental photographs.”
In additional to his cityscapes, Muniz has made some cheerful postcard imagery, which suggests the idea of an idyllic vacation. Notice the exotic animals and women in festive garb. In addition, Muniz expands his portfolio with black and white images – Summer, Boxer and New Kitten. The show is from January 16 to March 4. If you're in Hong Kong, make sure to check it out.
Above: Venice (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 180.3 x 284.5 cm (71 x 112 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 101.6 x 160.3 cm (40 x 63 ? in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Hong Kong Postcard (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 180.3 x 260.4 cm (71 x 102 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 101.6 x 146.7 cm (40 x 57 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
The Great Wall of China (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 180.3 x 270.5 cm (71 x 106 in.), Edition of 10 + 5 AP 101.6 x 152.4 cm (40 x 60 in.), Edition of 10 + 5 AP
Vik Muniz Hula Dancer (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 253.7 x 180.34 cm (99 ? x 71 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 101.6 x 143 cm (40 x 56 ? in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Vik Muniz West Palm Beach (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 271.8 x 180.3 cm (107 x 71 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 153.7 x 101.6 cm (60 x 40 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Vik Muniz Shanghai Postcard (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014 Digital C-print 180.3 x 256.3 cm (71 x 100 ? in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 101.6 x 144.3 cm (40 x 56 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Vik Muniz Summer (Album), 2014 Digital C-print 180.3 x 180. 3 cm (71 x 71 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 101.6 x 101.6 cm (40 x 40 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Vik Muniz Boxer (Album), 2014 Digital C-print 254 x 180.3 cm (100 x 71 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 143 x 101.6 cm (56 x 40 x in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
Vik Muniz New Kitten (Album), 2014 Digital C-print 266.7 x 180.3 cm (105 x 71 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP 150.1 x 101.6 cm (59 ? x 40 in.), Edition of 6 + 4 AP
