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In 1999, the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz was chosen by Peter Norton to design that year’s Christmas gift. Recipients were offered one of two items designed by the artist, one called Untitled (Wanderer Ashtray) and the other Untitled (Medusa Spaghetti Marinara). Both reference famous works of art rendered by Muniz in non-traditional art materials that he then photographed. The ashtray bears a photograph of Muniz’s rendition in cigarette ash and butt ends of The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818, by the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, collection of the Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany.
Untitled (Medusa Spaghetti Marinara) consists of an ordinary white porcelain plate bearing a Muniz photograph of the image he rendered in tomato sauce and pasta after the Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s Medusa, 1590, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Much like a kylix, a type of ancient Greek drinking cup that revealed the decoration at the bottom of the bowl only as its contents were being drunk, an unsuspecting diner eating from Muniz’s plate might not distinguish Caravaggio’s image among the trompe l’oeil arrangement of tomato sauce and pasta pieces until the last moment. A grimacing face, with wide-open eyes and a screaming mouth, is the focal point. Muniz has replaced the snakes of Caravaggio’s original with thick spaghetti awash in a rich tomato sauce that resembles blood.
The information provided with the plate includes the following comment by the artist:
I want to make the worst possible illusion that will still fool the eyes of the average person. Something so rudimentary and simple that the viewer will think, “I don’t believe what I’m seeing, I can’t be seeing this, my mind is too sophisticated to fall for something as silly as this.” Illusions as bad as mine make people aware of the fallacies of visual information and the pleasure to be derived from such fallacies. [2]
Notes:
[1] Carol Kino, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Resale Market,” New York Times, December 18, 2005, A40.
[2] Muniz, brochure accompanying the 1999 Peter Norton Family Christmas Project, artist file, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Provenance1994
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York. Given as a Christmas gift from the Peter Norton Family. [1]
Notes:
[1] Loan Agreement.
Exhibition History2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
Published References
DepartmentCollection of Barbara B. Millhouse
Untitled (Medusa Spaghetti Marinara)
Artist
Vik Muniz
(born 1961)
Date1999
MediumPrinted ceramic plate multiple
DimensionsOverall: 12 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (31.8 × 31.8 × 3.2 cm)
SignedVIK MUNIZ
Credit LineCourtesy of Barbara B. Millhouse
Copyright© 2021 Vik Muniz / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY
Object numberIL2006.5.2
DescriptionBeginning in 1988, software developer and art collector Peter Norton commissioned annually a piece from a contemporary artist to send friends at Christmas time. The selected artists created limited edition multiples in quantities between 2000 and 5000. Other artists who have participated in the project include Do-Ho Suh, Kara Walker, Christian Marclay, Lorna Simpson, Robert Lazzarini, and Yinka Shonibare. [1]In 1999, the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz was chosen by Peter Norton to design that year’s Christmas gift. Recipients were offered one of two items designed by the artist, one called Untitled (Wanderer Ashtray) and the other Untitled (Medusa Spaghetti Marinara). Both reference famous works of art rendered by Muniz in non-traditional art materials that he then photographed. The ashtray bears a photograph of Muniz’s rendition in cigarette ash and butt ends of The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818, by the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, collection of the Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany.
Untitled (Medusa Spaghetti Marinara) consists of an ordinary white porcelain plate bearing a Muniz photograph of the image he rendered in tomato sauce and pasta after the Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s Medusa, 1590, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Much like a kylix, a type of ancient Greek drinking cup that revealed the decoration at the bottom of the bowl only as its contents were being drunk, an unsuspecting diner eating from Muniz’s plate might not distinguish Caravaggio’s image among the trompe l’oeil arrangement of tomato sauce and pasta pieces until the last moment. A grimacing face, with wide-open eyes and a screaming mouth, is the focal point. Muniz has replaced the snakes of Caravaggio’s original with thick spaghetti awash in a rich tomato sauce that resembles blood.
The information provided with the plate includes the following comment by the artist:
I want to make the worst possible illusion that will still fool the eyes of the average person. Something so rudimentary and simple that the viewer will think, “I don’t believe what I’m seeing, I can’t be seeing this, my mind is too sophisticated to fall for something as silly as this.” Illusions as bad as mine make people aware of the fallacies of visual information and the pleasure to be derived from such fallacies. [2]
Notes:
[1] Carol Kino, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Resale Market,” New York Times, December 18, 2005, A40.
[2] Muniz, brochure accompanying the 1999 Peter Norton Family Christmas Project, artist file, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Provenance1994
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York. Given as a Christmas gift from the Peter Norton Family. [1]
Notes:
[1] Loan Agreement.
Exhibition History2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
Published References
Status
Not on view