Bacchus Astride a Barrel, after Rubens (Pictures of Junk)
Artist:
Vik Muniz
(Brazilian, born 1961)
Place made:Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date: 2006
Medium: Chromogenic print
Dimensions:
50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with the Mary Kathryn Lynch Kurtz Fund for the Acquisition of Modern Latin American Art
Object number: 2008.5
Label Text
"I want to make the worst possible illusion that
will still fool the eyes of the average person . . . .
Illusions as bad as mine make people aware of
the fallacies of visual information and the
pleasure to be derived from such fallacies. These
illusions are made to reveal the architecture of our
concept of truth. They are meta-illusions."
Vik Muniz
Since the early 1990s, Muniz has been practicing an art of illusion, making familiar images out of unconventional materials and then photographing the end result. In the past, he has created "drawings" or "paintings" out of such materials as wire, thread, or chocolate syrup. In other instances, he has shaped his imagery by drawing into soil, dust, or sugar. While the photographic image remains as the completed artwork, the composition being photographed is merely a prop in the process, and is often reworked for another photo.
In creating this example from his "Pictures of Junk" series, Muniz enlisted the aid of Brazilian youths who, under the artist's direction, moved junk around the floor of a large warehouse. The images in the series are based on Old Master paintings of mythological deities. The source for this representation of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, is a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Look carefully at Muniz's version and you will find subtle references to his subject, such as wine bottles stored in an open refrigerator door.
For other depictions of Bacchus, known in Greek culture as Dionysus, please visit the San Antonio Museum of Art's Western Antiquities Galleries.
(David Rubin, Label Text 2008)
will still fool the eyes of the average person . . . .
Illusions as bad as mine make people aware of
the fallacies of visual information and the
pleasure to be derived from such fallacies. These
illusions are made to reveal the architecture of our
concept of truth. They are meta-illusions."
Vik Muniz
Since the early 1990s, Muniz has been practicing an art of illusion, making familiar images out of unconventional materials and then photographing the end result. In the past, he has created "drawings" or "paintings" out of such materials as wire, thread, or chocolate syrup. In other instances, he has shaped his imagery by drawing into soil, dust, or sugar. While the photographic image remains as the completed artwork, the composition being photographed is merely a prop in the process, and is often reworked for another photo.
In creating this example from his "Pictures of Junk" series, Muniz enlisted the aid of Brazilian youths who, under the artist's direction, moved junk around the floor of a large warehouse. The images in the series are based on Old Master paintings of mythological deities. The source for this representation of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, is a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Look carefully at Muniz's version and you will find subtle references to his subject, such as wine bottles stored in an open refrigerator door.
For other depictions of Bacchus, known in Greek culture as Dionysus, please visit the San Antonio Museum of Art's Western Antiquities Galleries.
(David Rubin, Label Text 2008)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
