digital ink jet output on vinyl mesh

On view beginning October 1, 2002

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music
(30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn)

Presented by Target Stores

Through summer 2003, at Brooklyn Academy of Music's historic building at 30 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene undergoes a two-year restoration, its façade will become a magical and whimsical version of itself, decorated with mouthwatering gumdrops, peppermint sticks, red licorice and other colorful candies that replicate the building's every feature.

Vik Muniz's gigantic gingerbread house, a photographic blow-up of an actual gingerbread cake, comes complete with frosting windows, jellybean arches, gummy bear cornices and an m&m frieze. Reproducing BAM's beaux arts architectural minutiae in detail-from its grand two-story stained glass windows down to the names of famous composers-Muniz has changed the familiar landmark into a tantalizing, lighthearted fairytale. Muniz's CandyBAM wrapper will conceal the restoration work, creating a sense of anticipation even as it preserves and exaggerates our memory of the building beneath.

For CandyBAM, Muniz worked with Soutine Bakery to match the exact scale of BAM's building. At 300 feet long by 60 feet tall, CandyBAM is the most ambitious example of a large body of photographic work that Muniz has made using food or other unusual substances to depict a familiar object or scene. Typically, the materials he uses add a layer of meaning to the object depicted. With CandyBAM, the significance of his mouthwatering materials is concise and exuberant: "The symbolic meaning of the gingerbread house is the celebration of the Brooklyn Academy of Music as a place of fantasy and joy," Muniz has said. "I would also like it to give the public the feeling of anticipation-just like a child feels in front of a bag of candy-of the unveiling of the renovated building."

Artist Bio
Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1961, Vik Muniz has lived and worked in New York City since the mid-1980s. He began his career as a sculptor, eventually turning his attention primarily to photography. He has had solo exhibitions at The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; the 49th Venice Biennale, Brazilian Pavilion; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre National de la Photographie, Paris; and the International Center of Photography, New York. His work has also been included in many group exhibitions such as "Brazil: Body and Soul" at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2001; "46th Biennial Exhibition: Media/Metaphor" at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D. C., 2000, and "The Museum as Muse" at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1999.

Sponsorship
CandyBAM, presented by Target Stores, is the first ever collaboration between Public Art Fund and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

Minneapolis-based Target Stores serves guests at 1,107 stores in 47 states nationwide by delivering today's best retail trends at affordable prices. Target Stores, along with its parent company Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs. Target will open its first Brooklyn store at 519 Gateway Drive on October 9.

Location
Brooklyn Academy of Music is located at 30 Lafayette Avenue between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street.
Nearest Subway: 1, 2, 4, 5, M, N, Q, R, W to Atlantic-Pacific stop; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Ave.