A game of images, perspectives, scales and materials. This is the invitation that the artist Vik Muniz (Sao Paulo, 1961) proposes through the exhibition that can be visited at the Museo Universidad de Navarra. The exhibition, which brings together a selection of 25 years of work, has been organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (Minneapolis/New York/Paris/Lausanne) and the High Museum of Art (Atlanta), in association with the Museum, and has been made possible thanks to the support of the patron Gabriela Willson.

The exhibition, curated by Arthur Ollman, has the collaboration of the Pamplona City Hall and the Elba Benitez Gallery in Madrid. The Museum will be the only European stop on its international itinerary and can be visited until March 21 on floor -1.

Ignacio Miguéliz, head of Curatorial and Collections at the Museum and coordinator of the exhibition, stressed that "Muniz is a visual artist who works with the image, the reality of its representation and the viewer's perception. There is a dissociation between form and content and it is up to the viewer to discover this through the contemplation of the work".

He was accompanied at the presentation by María García-Barberena, Pamplona City Councilor for Culture and Equality; and Valentín Vallhonrat, artistic director of Museo Universidad de Navarra. The Pamplona City Council has lent for the occasion the work Kyber pass. Self Portrait. After Rembrandt (2005), belonging to its Contemporary Art Collection. "Being able to participate with this piece is very important because it enhances the value of our collection and makes it known to the public. It is also an opportunity to share cultural activities with other institutions. The Culture Department of the City Council and the Museum share interests in promoting quality culture in the city and supporting creativity as an engine for education, innovation and social change," García-Barberena emphasized.

For his part, Vallhonrat praised the work that the Museum has been doing with Muniz for the past four years and pointed out that the exhibition "provides keys to understanding the History of Art, but also the workings of our psyche, the phenomena of perception or how an artistic work is constructed from what we consider waste. This exhibition is rich, abundant, beautiful, for all audiences".

In his speech, Miguéliz also highlighted the Brazilian artist's "great sense of humor" and the importance of his creative process: "He always works by recreating previous works. More than copying, he recreates the representational values of a work by producing it with materials that are neither artistic nor conventional at first, although he does not like that word because he understands that art can be made with anything". In this sense, he pointed out that, for Muniz, "the work of art is not born at the moment he takes the photograph, when he presses the shutter, but from the mental approach. He always generates a three-dimensional artifact which he then photographs".

The exhibition includes recreations of great works of art history such as the Mona Lisa, The Triumph of Bacchus or Un bar aux Folies Bergère, as well as other series that, for example, are based on historical or family photographs, as the artist has a strong link between visual and collective memory. And to make them, his raw materials are elements such as chocolate, sugar, toys, jam or waste.

Precisely one of his projects, which can also be seen at the Museum, are the series Imágenes de Chatarra and Imágenes de basura, made between 2005 and 2010, with workers from the Jardim Gramacho landfill, the largest in Rio de Janeiro. These projects are an example of the great social commitment of Muniz, who grew up in a favela on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and currently straddles New York and Rio de Janeiro. "He is very aware of the environment around him and is conscious of the value of art to improve society. He has collaborated with several social and environmental projects and is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador," explains the exhibition coordinator.

Due to the pandemic, Vik Muniz, who currently resides in Rio de Janeiro, has not been able to travel to Pamplona, but is scheduled to visit the Museum next March to participate in the artist-in-residence program. Tender Puentes.