Engaging the histories, processes, and functions of vision, perception, and representation, Vik Muniz (Brazil, born 1961) creates photographs that ask us to look closer at what, and how, we think we see. Originally trained as a sculptor, Muniz’s signature approach to making images involves creating a series of material constructions that he then captures through photography. The resulting play between two and three dimensions works in tandem with his choice of materials (including such everyday items and substances as thread, magazines, garbage, and dust) to trouble stable notions of form and content, opening up networks of meaning and memory that structure visual perception and the capacity of the mind’s eye. Muniz’s work thus wittily challenges viewers to question how the way an image is made contributes to the way it is experienced and understood. As the artist explains, “You see it, but at the same time you see how it works. I have been called an illusionist, but I have always considered myself a twisted kind of realist.”

Bringing together works from Henry holdings and select loans from private collections, this exhibition highlights a range of Muniz’s photographic investigations.

Based in New York and Rio de Janeiro, Muniz began his career in New York City in the late 1980s and has since gone on to achieve international acclaim. A prolific artist who exhibits globally, he is also actively involved in a number of social projects and was named a Unesco Goodwill Ambassador in 2011.