Vik Muniz
The Imaginary Museum
Collection Lambert
Église des Célestins
December 11, 2011 – June 17, 2012
This Winter, the Collection Lambert in Avignon will present a double exhibition devoted to Lawrence Weiner and Vik Muniz from 11 December. In dedicating its exhibition spaces to two major artists on the international scene, the museum revives its dual presentations that have in the past allowed for the discovery of emerging artists and present the work of established artists – Salla Tykka/Francis Alys (2003), Sol LeWitt/Christian Marclay (2004)…
Entitled “After Crossing the River / Après la traversée du fleuve”, the exhibition devoted to Lawrence Weiner was conceived as a specific project in which the artist, founding father of Conceptual art in the 1960s, reactivates text pieces created in France throughout his relationship with art dealer Yvon Lambert, as well as with the museum that houses Lambert’s collection.
“The Imaginary Museum”, Vik Muniz, incontrovertible contemporary photographer and UNESCO ambassador, displays all his art of illusion. The masterpieces of Van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso, Warhol and other great names from art history are reconstituted by the artist – thanks to incongruous materials (wool, ketchup, chocolate sauce, pigments, ripped-up magazines, dried plants, detritus…) to be then photographed. They will take over the ground floor rooms of the Hôtel de Caumont , creating a new museum within the museum, an ”Imaginary Museum” – to borrow André Malraux’s expression. As part of this exhibition, Vik Muniz proposes to take over the Église des Célestins church in order to create a monumental new work conceived in collaboration with local students.