Sick Bacchus, after Caravaggio (Pictures of Magazine 2) 2011

Vik Muniz made this image, Sick Bacchus, after Caravaggio, out of magazine pictures. Isn’t that wild? Imagine Muniz in the studio, surrounded by stacks of magazines, hunting for just the right color, the right texture, to mimic Caravaggio’s original. He’s not just copying; he's translating. Each scrap of magazine becomes a brushstroke, building up this familiar figure in a totally unexpected way. Look closely. See how the faces in the magazines create the skin tone? There's a story in every fragment, a hidden narrative pieced together to form a new whole. It’s like Muniz is asking us: what does it mean to see an old master through the lens of our contemporary image culture? This isn't just about replication; it’s about reimagining, and the never-ending conversation between artists across time.