VikMuniz

Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet
Fotofest 2016 Biennial

The Silos at Sawyer Yards
1502 Sawyer Street
Houston, TX 77007
713-223-5522

March 12-April 3, Mon-Sun, 11am-6pm
April 5-24, Wed-Sun, 11am-6pm
Free to the Public

“These are artists who have engaged the natural world and humanity’s place in that world, over many years,” says 2016 Biennial co-curator Wendy Watriss. “Many of the artworks manifest the artists’ rigorous investigations into science and philosophy.” Featured projects address the anthropocene – climate change; industrialization and urbanization; bio-diversity; water; the use of natural and human resources; human migration; global capital, commerce and consumption; energy production; and waste.

To create the Pictures of Garbage series, Vik Muniz worked with the catadores, or pickers, from the world’s largest landfill: Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Working with his collaborators and using garbage collected from the dump, Muniz constructed portraits of the catadores, many with art historical references.

The catadores work in a co-operative founded and led by Sebastião Carlos Dos Santos, president of the Association of Pickers of Jardim Gramacho (ACAMJG). The money created by selling artwork from the Pictures of Garbage series was given back to the catadores and the ACAMJG in order to aid the catadores in their mission to improve life in their community.

Steven Evans, FotoFest Executive Director and 2016 Biennial Co-curator.

Visit the FotoFest 2016 Biennial website