PinchukArtCentre presented a personal exhibition of Brazilian artist Vik Muniz

The Centre for Contemporary Art PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine) presented a personal exhibition of the world famous Brazilian artist and photographer Vik Muniz "Vik Muniz: A Survey". The works of the artist were exhibited in the largest museums of the world and at the most prestigious exhibitions of the last decade. At press-conference on the occasion of presentation the president of PinchukArtCentre Peter Doroshenko noticed, that it is the first exhibition of Vik Muniz to be seen in Eastern Europe.

"It is very important for PinchukArtCentre to be the first in our cooperation with worldwide famous artists.... I think those who visit us from the very first exhibition - in fact this is our third exhibition - see that we come up with very actual for contemporary art subjects and work with world known artists. As a prove we are the first in the Eastern Europe who presents the Vik Muniz exhibition", the PinchukArtCentre president said.

In Vik Muniz opinion, the PinchukArtCentre part as an institution is very important for contemporary art development in Ukraine. "In Brazil, for example, the similar centers also presented the works of international artists. And at the same time they showed to the world the Brazilian artists, whose works today are represented almost in all famous galleries in the world. Exactly in the same way, as I can see, PinchukArtCentre begins to acquaint the world art-community with the Ukrainian artists".

About the exhibition and the artworks presented there Vik Muniz said, that the process of objects creation and shooting, not the objects themselves, are the most important for him.

Credo of the artist is: "There are no more objects for shooting. If you want to shoot anything, first create it". For the last 20 years Vik Muniz has been constantly expanding boundaries of modern photography and paintings. His works never reflect surrounding reality, except the one created by the artist himself. Unique installations, which are sometimes destroyed right after shooting, further live in works of Muniz.

According to the Muniz vision, an artist role is to impress the viewer and make him/her (by means of materials, idea) "do not pass by with no expression on the face", but stop in front of the work to look it through. "I do not create something to be original, - I am looking for an original, looking for a special. And I try by my works to deliver something special to the world".

The next Vik Muniz project will be social, involving the people who live in garbage dumps. "I have already used dust in my works, now I want to use the real garbage. I was surprised how many people in the world are living in such places. While I have been there I saw many people suffering from skin diseases. My idea was to attract those people to create their own portraits using the garbage, and afterwards to make art-objects on the basis of it. The money from the sale of those works will go for the opening a hospital for people with skin diseases", he concluded.

The Vik Muniz exhibition in PinchukArtCentre is open everyday from April 14 until May 20 except Monday. The admission is free.

As informed before, the "Vik Muniz: Survey" exhibition presents 50 specially selected artworks, created by Vik Muniz in 1993-2007. For their creation he used non-traditional materials, such as caviar, diamonds, chocolate, gold, soil, sugar, junk, cotton wool, peanut butter, jam, nails, yarn and even blood.

PinchukArtCentre is one of the biggest centers for contemporary art in the Eastern Europe. The main activities include: exhibition organization, supporting the cultural projects, etc. More than 75 000 people visited PinchukArtCentre since it was opened. About 40 000 people visited the previous exhibition of young Ukrainian and American artists GENERATIONS.UsA, which lasted for three months.