Contemporary Art in Charlotte also raise questions which rise out of the frisson created by the contrasts presented in the photograph. In the Pictures of Junk series, Muniz references historical and iconic works of art. These large-scale images, roughly seven by twelve feet, were constructed out of discarded materials with the help of students and catadores, an omnipresent workforce who scavenge materials from the Jardim Gramacho, one of the largest landfills in the world enveloping the perimeter of Rio de Janeiro. Muniz directed his assembled staff as they layered the objects to create a three dimensional effect, and the final iteration was captured in a photograph. In The Birth of Venus, after Botticelli (Pictures of Junk) 2008, the early Renaissance depiction of the birth of the goddess of love looms in the background, set against a span of refuse in the foreground. This contrast raises a spectrum of questions, which seem to be intentionally ambiguous and elastic. Our culture puts a premium on both external beauty and the notion of the throw-away object. Every moment of every day, things which initially appear beautiful are used and then cast away, transformed in an instant from pulchritude to trash. Viewed through the lens of gender studies, the piece could be seen as a commentary on the manner in which women are valued in relation to their current state of physical appearance. Seen from the perspective of an environmentalist, one could argue that our treatment of our habitat is beckoning the demise rather than the birth of beauty. As described in the Mint catalog, “Combining threedimensional elements within a twodimensional pictorial space to create visually and conceptually loaded images, Muniz’ work fosters a shift in visual perception as well as cultural preconceptions.” Viewing the exhibition as a whole, it becomes increasingly apparent how much the material out of which the image is constructed informs its meaning.
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2 Jardim Gramacho Landscape with Vultures. Photograph by Vik Muniz, courtesy of Vik Muniz Studio.
26 PEACHY