Whether extremely over-sized or extremely under-sized, Ron Mueck’s disturbingly realistic sculptures make you stare for hours.
First beginning with puppet work on an Australian children’s television show, the hyperrealist sculptor eventually transitioned over to art after working with his mother-in-law, Paula Rego, on a piece she planned on showing at the Hayward Gallery. Rego’s connections led Mueck to meeting Charles Saatchi, co-founder of a large advertising agency, who was very impressed with Mueck’s work. With Saatchi’s support, Mueck was able to make a name for himself and begin his career in mixed media hyperrealist sculptures.
Ron Mueck made a couple pieces before creating the sculpture that helped put him on the map. In 1997, Mueck completed a two-thirds-life-sized sculpture of his naked father lying on his back, which he named Dead Dad. Mueck says, "I never made life-size figures because it never seemed to be interesting. We meet life-size people every day."Along with the silicone and acrylic paint used to recreate the corpse of his father, Mueck also added his own hair to the sculpture, making this the only piece he has created using his own human hair and giving the artist a stronger connection to his work.
First beginning with puppet work on an Australian children’s television show, the hyperrealist sculptor eventually transitioned over to art after working with his mother-in-law, Paula Rego, on a piece she planned on showing at the Hayward Gallery. Rego’s connections led Mueck to meeting Charles Saatchi, co-founder of a large advertising agency, who was very impressed with Mueck’s work. With Saatchi’s support, Mueck was able to make a name for himself and begin his career in mixed media hyperrealist sculptures.
Ron Mueck made a couple pieces before creating the sculpture that helped put him on the map. In 1997, Mueck completed a two-thirds-life-sized sculpture of his naked father lying on his back, which he named Dead Dad. Mueck says, "I never made life-size figures because it never seemed to be interesting. We meet life-size people every day."Along with the silicone and acrylic paint used to recreate the corpse of his father, Mueck also added his own hair to the sculpture, making this the only piece he has created using his own human hair and giving the artist a stronger connection to his work.
Dead Dad
I had the pleasure of seeing one of his incredible pieces at ARoS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark this past summer. His 16 foot tall crouching Boy, made out of resin, silicone and fiberglass, is a force to be reckoned with. What amazed me most was not the unbelievable size of the sculpture, but the uncanny realistic details Mueck had carefully calculated and captured: the perfectly executed mini-wrinkles on the ankles, elbows and soles, the faint thin green veins throughout the body, the chipped fingernails with those odd little white dots that we sometimes get, the wary and haunting expression of the crouching boy. I was surprised that the most unrealistic part of the sculpture was the face; something about it just did not reach the same level of realism and detail that was present throughout the rest of the piece.
Boy
There aren't any local exhibitions featuring Mueck's work at the moment, but do keep an eye out for his name; he's an artist you won't want to miss.
No comments:
Post a Comment