VikMuniz

Vik Muniz: Verso, Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands, June 9 – September 4, 2016

9 June – 4 September 2016 at The Mauritshuis in the Netherlands.

The Mauritshuis sheds new light on its collection through a special collaboration with Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. For the first time in the history of the museum, the Mauritshuis is organizing an exhibition entirely of contemporary works of art. Vik Muniz is a world-renowned artist who works in New York and Rio de Janeiro. Initially a sculptor, Muniz has in time become increasingly interested in the photographic representations of his work. Using materials such as sugar, thread, diamonds, chocolate syrup and garbage, Muniz creates bold, ironic and often deceiving artworks. His film ‘Waste Land’ won several awards in 2010. His work is featured in collections from leading museums such as MOMA in New York, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and Tate in London. The inspiration for the exhibition at the Mauritshuis are the back sides of the seventeenth-century paintings in the museum’s collection. This creates a delightful connection between the modern art of Muniz and the world-famous paintings of the Mauritshuis.

This summer, Muniz will present his Versos at the Mauritshuis, a project he has been working on for fifteen years. Together with his team, he makes meticulous copies of the back sides of world-famous paintings such as Da Vinci’s La Gioconda, Starry Night by Van Gogh, and Picasso’s Les demoiselles d’Avignon. These Versos will now be exhibited for the first time together at a museum, at the Mauritshuis.

Besides these famous masterpieces, Muniz also created five Versos especially for this exhibition, based on five paintings from the Mauritshuis collection, including Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Goldfinch by Fabritius, and The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt. This summer, these works can therefore be doubly admired at the Mauritshuis: the front side in the permanent collection of the Mauritshuis, and the back side, in Vik Muniz Verso fashion, in our exhibition room.

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