Toy Soldier (Monad Series), 2003 Cibachrome, 94 3/4 x 75 1/4 inches Vik Muniz Rebus During the month of April, Rena Bransten Gallery will present "Rebus", an exhibition of new photorgraphic works by Vik Muniz. Besides the "Rebus" series, there will also be works available from his "Monad" series. The term "Rebus" refers to the representation of a word or phrase by pictures that suggest its parts. In his new work, Muniz uses tiny plastic toys like soldiers, jacks, guns, cars, whistles, cowboys, Indians, and creepy-crawlers, that have certain associations, to compose an historical face or object or scene that itself has layers of meaning. Each of the five pictures in the series refers to an historical photograph with its own story. For example, Mr. Muniz recreates a photo of Alice Liddell, based on one by Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll's photography has been the subject of much debate as critics have alleged an obsession and voyeuristic relationship to children; that the subject of this photograph is Alice from Alice in Wonderland provides even more iconic power. With Mr. Muniz' recreation the vividly colored joyousness of the toys accentuate the ambiguity of the subject matter. In the "Monad" series, layers of insects considered to be garden pests, for instance, form a single white rose bloom. Blue and gray war toys shaded by red, green, and black guns, canons, and helmets form a young soldier's face and torso. The white grounds under the toys in both pictures are convincing substitutes for both substance and highlights. Viewing these Muniz appropriations, our minds easily bind the elements of his photographs to the original images. It is this evolving linkage of new representation-to old-to orginal that has fascinated Muniz throughout his career. Now that technology allows one to alter the sacred reality of the photograph, artists are at greater liberty to expolore ways of tweaking that reality and raising the question of whose version is more real? Exhibition: April 1 - May 1, 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Fri 10:30am - 5:30pm, Sat 11am - 5pm Rena Bransten Gallery 77 Geary Street (between Kearny and Grant Streets) USA-San Francisco, CA 94108 Telephone +1 415 982-3292 Fax +1 415 982-1807 Email info@renabranstengallery.com www.renabranstengallery.com |
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