Vik Muniz's 2008 Photograph Marat (Sebastião) from Pictures of Garbage Series

Vik Muniz created Marat (Sebastião) in 2008 as part of his Pictures of Garbage series, a digital C-print. The work was posted on artcritical on January 8, 2011, at 3:27 pm. Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is credited as the courtesy source. Muniz's series involves constructing images from waste materials, then photographing them. This piece references Jacques-Louis David's 1793 painting The Death of Marat, reimagined with a catador (waste picker) from the Jardim Gramacho landfill in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The project highlights social and environmental issues through art. Muniz, a Brazilian artist based in New York and Rio, often uses unconventional materials. The series gained wider recognition through the 2010 documentary Waste Land. The artwork was shared via RSS feed, allowing digital distribution.