The exhibition is the artists first museum solo show and marks the return
of the popular Untitled (Big Man) (2000) from the Hirshhorns permanent
collection. Also on view are sculptures of a miniature newborn and a
colossal sleeping mask, as well as of a diminutive, bed-ridden old woman
that has never been exhibited in the United States.
Ron Muecks sculptures, though inanimate, seem alive---eyes are wet,
vessels swell with blood, and you can almost feel the heat and breath
emanating off the body, says Lawrence. The skewed sizes of the figures give
this realism a psychological edge, which, according to Lawrence, stirs our
imagination while grounding us in the physical world.
Born in Melbourne, the artist has practiced his craft since childhood, when
he fabricated his own playthings. Although never formally trained as an
artist, Mueck continued to develop his considerable skills working as an
animatronics technician and model maker for childrens television, motion
picture special effects and the advertising industry first in Australia
(from the late 1970s to mid-1980s) and then Great Britain (from the
mid-1980s on).>
As part of the Smithsonians Thursday Art Night festivities on July 18,
Sidney Lawrence, exhibition curator and Hirshhorn head of public affairs,
will discuss Muecks (pronounced Mew-ick) sculpture in a gallery talk at 7
p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m., curators Merry Foresta and Arthur
Wheelock and critic Blake Gopnik will join Lawrence in the panel What is
Realism?, inspired by the artists work.
Ron Muecks sculptures, though inanimate, seem alive---eyes are wet,
vessels swell with blood, and you can almost feel the heat and breath
emanating off the body, says Lawrence. The skewed sizes of the figures give
this realism a psychological edge, which, according to Lawrence, stirs our
imagination while grounding us in the physical world.
Born in Melbourne, the artist has practiced his craft since childhood, when
he fabricated his own playthings. Although never formally trained as an
artist, Mueck continued to develop his considerable skills working as an
animatronics technician and model maker for childrens television, motion
picture special effects and the advertising industry first in Australia
(from the late 1970s to mid-1980s) and then Great Britain (from the
mid-1980s on).
IMAGE:
Ron Mueck
Australian, born Melbourne, 1958
Untitled (Big Man), 2000
Pigmented polyester resin on fiberglass
81x 46 1/4 x 82 1/4 inches
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