Mass, from the series Pictures of Chocolate

Best known for his witty, unexpected recreations of canonical art historical and pop culture imagery, Vik Muniz creates intricately layered photographic works that explore the nature of visual cognition and the transcendent area between perception and reality. From a peanut butter and jelly Double Mona Lisa (indebted, of course, to Andy Warhol’s treatment of da Vinci’s original masterwork) to a Bosco chocolate syrup rendering of one of Hans Namuth’s photographs of Jackson Pollack, Muniz uses unconventional materials to heighten effect. His signature process – using mixed media and found materials to create large-scale renderings that are discarded after being photographed – again alludes to the constructed nature of memory and perception.

Brooklyn, NY, USA; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil