Brazilian artist Vik Muniz was in fine form during a lively discussion at the Arts Club in London on the occasion of his fourth solo exhibition, titled Photocubism, at Ben Brown Fine Arts Gallery (until May 26, also at Claridge’s ArtSpace on Brook’s Mews). Muniz is known for working with detritus, recreating famous works from unconventional materials such as dust, sugar, chocolate and scrap metal. Photocubism features the work of Muniz’s most recent Surfaces series, which “explores the concepts of perception, reality, and representation while challenging traditional notions of materiality,” reads a statement from the gallery.
During the interview with Tim Marlow, the director of the Design Museum in London, Muniz explained how he navigates cubism and turns to art history, saying: [along] a bit and find your way around things. It’s not about what you do it’s about how you do people [feel] in front of the work. The mischievous maverick also recalled when he replaced labels at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, adding his own parody titles to key works. The brazen ruse was to “claim paternity”, he said, “and to change the rules in your favor”. The best thing was to see how people reacted. “We were going to MoMA just to see students writing our name – and those tags stayed up for two weeks!” Muniz joked.
