A Mona Lisa made from peanut butter and jelly?
No, it's not lunchtime in the Louvre's cafeteria. It's a new exhibition of witty reproductions of famous images in unconventional materials by renowned contemporary artist Vic Muniz, currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Through Sept. 7, 2007, visitors to MCASD's La Jolla venue can marvel over the painstaking detail of Muniz's reproductions of a John Constable landscape in thread or a well-known photograph of Jackson Pollack made with chocolate. But Muniz's play with illusionism doesn't end there. We are merely looking at photographs of these ephemeral works, which Muniz has long since destroyed in order to question the power and permanence ascribed to original artworks.
None of this is groundbreaking stuff of course. Over the last century Dadaists, Pop artists, and Post-Modernists alike have used nontraditional media and copies to challenge notions of authorship and originality in the art world. Regardless, Muniz's visual witticisms align perfectly with his childlike love of play, and anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy viewing 100 examples of his work, which make up this survey of Muniz's career since 1988.
Other intriguing exhibitions this summer at MCASD in Downtown San Diego:
"Robert Thierren" (through Sept. 23) -- Enter the world of "Alice in Wonderland" as you walk beneath two table and chair sets that stand over 8 feet tall!
"Harold Cohen" (July 15–Sept. 23) -- See what happens when artificial intelligence and art collide. Harold Cohen developed the first computer program to create original paintings.
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