| Amazing Sculptures |
Ron Mueck is a London-based photo-realist artist. Born
in Melbourne,Australia, to parents who were toy
makers, he labored on children's television shows for
15 years before working in special effects for such films
as Labyrinth, a 1986 fantasy epic starring David Bowie.
Mueck then started his own company in London,
making models to be photographed for advertisements.
He has lots of the dolls he made during his advertising
years stored in his home. Although some still have, he
feels, "a presence on their own," many were made just
to be photographed from a particular angle - one strip
of a face, for example, with a lot of loose material
lurking an inch outside the camera's frame.
Eventually Mueck concluded that photography pretty
much destroys the physical "presence" of the original
object, and so he turned to fine art and sculpture. In the
early 1990s, still in his advertising days, Mueck was
commissioned to make something highly realistic, and
was wondering what material would do the trick. Latex
was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more
precise. Luckily, he saw a little architectural decor on
the wall of a boutique and inquired as to the nice, pink
stuff's nature. Fiberglass resin was the answer, and
Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.
in Melbourne,Australia, to parents who were toy
makers, he labored on children's television shows for
15 years before working in special effects for such films
as Labyrinth, a 1986 fantasy epic starring David Bowie.
Mueck then started his own company in London,
making models to be photographed for advertisements.
He has lots of the dolls he made during his advertising
years stored in his home. Although some still have, he
feels, "a presence on their own," many were made just
to be photographed from a particular angle - one strip
of a face, for example, with a lot of loose material
lurking an inch outside the camera's frame.
Eventually Mueck concluded that photography pretty
much destroys the physical "presence" of the original
object, and so he turned to fine art and sculpture. In the
early 1990s, still in his advertising days, Mueck was
commissioned to make something highly realistic, and
was wondering what material would do the trick. Latex
was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more
precise. Luckily, he saw a little architectural decor on
the wall of a boutique and inquired as to the nice, pink
stuff's nature. Fiberglass resin was the answer, and
Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.
His work is lifelike but not life size, and being face to
face with the tiny, gossiping Two Women (2005) or the
monumental woman In Bed (2005) is an unforgettable
experience.
face with the tiny, gossiping Two Women (2005) or the
monumental woman In Bed (2005) is an unforgettable
experience.
Mueck's huge 4.5m crouching Boy was the centerpiece
of the Millennium Dome in London and of the Venice
Biennale in 2001. The artist's work is becoming ever
more intriguing, ranging from smaller-than-life size
naked figures to much larger, but never actual, life
size. Consequently his hyper-realistic sculptures in
fiberglass and silicone, while extraordinarily lifelike,
challenge us by their odd scale. The psychological
confrontation for the viewer is to recognize and
assimilate two contradictory realities.
of the Millennium Dome in London and of the Venice
Biennale in 2001. The artist's work is becoming ever
more intriguing, ranging from smaller-than-life size
naked figures to much larger, but never actual, life
size. Consequently his hyper-realistic sculptures in
fiberglass and silicone, while extraordinarily lifelike,
challenge us by their odd scale. The psychological
confrontation for the viewer is to recognize and
assimilate two contradictory realities.
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