Vik Muniz – Vireo on Barbed Wire, 1995 – Photograph

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Toned gelatin silver print - from 'Pictures of Wire '

Vireo on Barbed Wire by Vik Muniz is a toned gelatin silver print from 1995, part of the Pictures of Wire series and limited to an edition of five. This delicate piece captures a small bird, a vireo, perched on a stretch of barbed wire, rendered with simplicity and subtlety. The fine, minimalist lines create a poignant contrast between the gentle nature of the bird and the harshness of the barbed wire, evoking themes of confinement and resilience. Muniz’s work often explores contrasts and materials in unconventional ways, and here he uses barbed wire as a metaphor for restriction, juxtaposed with the innocence and fragility of the bird, inviting reflection on freedom and captivity.

Vik Muniz (Brazil, 1961) is a celebrated contemporary artist known for his innovative use of unconventional materials like chocolate, garbage, and thread. He recreates iconic images with these mediums, blurring the line between high art and everyday objects. Muniz’s works explore perception, memory, and the relationship between art and reality.

Vik Muniz

Vireo on Barbed Wire, 1995

Name: Vireo on Barbed Wire, 1995
Brand: Vik Muniz
SKU: 2636
Price: 6200.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Form

Photography

PhotographyPhotography is the process of creating an image on light sensitive materials. The image is produced by using a camera, which has a lens that focuses on light either reflected or emitted from an object. These visible wavelengths are used to reproduce the image seen.

Medium

Photograph

PhotographA photograph is an image captured with a camera. Traditionally, photographs were made by exposing film and then developing the image on light-sensitive paper using chemicals. Today, photographs can also be captured digitally and printed or displayed electronically. The process requires a camera, whether film or digital, and a photographer.

Edition

Edition of 5

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●Inventory 2636

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Toned gelatin silver print - from 'Pictures of Wire '

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The great challenge is how to make smart, intelligent art that can speak to everybody.
- Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz is a photographer and artist from Brazil. He was originally a sculptor, but grew increasingly interested in the artistic photographs that were being taken of his work. Vik Muniz now focuses his artistic talents completely on photography, and uses a number of unconventional items such as diamonds, garbage and chocolate syrup to create images that depict certain events in history and pop culture. Vik Muniz got his start in art in a rather unique way. He was working in advertising as a teenager, and on his way back from a formal gala, he tried to break up a street fight. One of the the men accidentally shot him in the leg, and paid Muniz not to press charges against him. Vik Muniz then moved to New York, where he worked in an art studio his friend lent him and began sculpting. Vik Muniz is very popular with art enthusiasts, and his Rio de Janeiro's MAM was second in attendance only to Picasso's exhibits. Vik Muniz was also part of the documentary Wasteland, where the artwork he'd created in the garbage dumps outside of Rio de Janeiro was featured. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award. (Artist website)

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Photorealism is a genre of art or artistic movement that involves drawing, painting, and other graphic media in which the artist carefully studies a photograph and attempts to reproduce it as realistically as possible in another medium. While the term can broadly describe any artwork created in this manner, it specifically refers to a group of painters and paintings in the U.S. art movement that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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Vik Muniz

Vireo on Barbed Wire, 1995

49.5 x 39.7 cm

Language & Currency

Vik Muniz