Ron Mueck is an Australian hyper-realist sculptor working in the UK. His incredible sculptures of creepy, grotesque, mottled skin and uncannily gigantic proportional figures have adorned the Millennium Dome as well as Charles Saatchi’s living room for a number of years now. It would be fair to say, Mueck’s one of the leading contemporary artists of today.
His early career was as a model maker and puppeteer for children’s television and films, notably the film “Labyrinth” staring Bowie. Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. This eventually led him to conclude, “photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object”, and so he turned to fine art, in particular, sculpture.
It’s the attention to detail, technical brilliance and the (odd) scale of his figures that takes your breath away. His work, while proportionally correct, is either over or under-sized. For example, an enormous 4.5m crouching Boy, a 3 ft tall naked man, a 20 ft long newborn, a replica of his own head (seen above) 6 times its actual size. Consequently his hyper-realistic sculptures, while extraordinarily lifelike, challenge us by their odd scale. The “psychological confrontation for the viewer is to recognize and assimilate two contradictory realities”. However, the real magical appeal of Mueck’s sculptures lie in the meticulous process, which begins with…
A Girl, Mixed Media. 2006
A Girl, (Installation) 2006
A Girl,(detail) 2006
Spooning Couple, Mixed Media. 2005.
Spooning Couple, 2005 (in progress)
Spooning Couple, 2005. Human hands comparison
Untitled (Head of a Baby), Mixed Media. 2003
Boy, 1999. Mixed media. 4.9 x 4.9 x 2.4 m
Boy, 1999. Top view
Boy, 1999. Close-up
Boy, 1999. Close-up foot
Untitled (Seated Woman), 1999. Mixed media. 25 1/4 X 17 X 16 1/2 inches
In Bed, 2005. Mixed media, 63 3/4 x 255 7/8 x 155 1/2 in. (161.9 x 649.9 x 395 cm). Private Collection
In Bed, 2005. Close-up
In Bed, 2005. Rollers in the hair - Close-up
Big Man, 2000. Mixed media, 80 x 47 1/2 x 80 1/2 in. (203.2 x 120.7 x 204.5 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Big Man, 2000. Different angle
Two Women, 2005. Mixed media, 33 1/2 x 18 7/8 x 15 in. (85.1 x 47.9 x 38.1 cm). Glenn Fuhrman Collection, New York
Two Women, 2005. Close-up
Mask III, Mixed Media, 2005.
Mask III, 2005 (Installation).
Angel, 1997. Silicone rubber and mixed media . 43 1/3 X 34 1/4 X 31 7/8 inches
