Editor's note: The Andy Warhol Museum provided source material to Resource Library for the following article or essay. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, please contact the Andy Warhol Museum directly through either this phone number or web address:
Ron Mueck at The Andy Warhol
December 13, 2007 - March 30, 2008
The Andy Warhol Museum presents a special exhibition of work by celebrated contemporary sculptor Ron Mueck, on view from December 13, 2007 through March 30, 2008.
The exhibition, Ron Mueck at The Andy Warhol will feature seven of the artist's realistic human sculptures including: In Bed (2005) a giant sculpture of a woman lying in bed; A Girl (2006), a vast sculpture of a newborn baby; Wild Man (2005), a nine-foot sculpture of a naked, bearded man; Spooning Couple (2005), a miniature sculpture of a couple lying together on a bed; Man in a Boat (2002) a naked man sitting in a life-size wooden rowing boat; Ron Mueck's self-portrait, Mask II (2001-2002); and Mask III (2005), a large portrait of a black woman.
"Mueck's work ranges between pop and high art. If the sculptures share anything-elderly, middle age, baby-it's the human condition," says Thomas Sokolowski, director of The Andy Warhol Museum.
Mueck was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1958, to parents of German descent. He often made toys as a child and this hobby became his profession. He began his career in Australia as a puppet-maker, creating marionettes for children's television. In 1986 he moved to the USA and worked in the film industry before moving to London where he set up his own model-making business.
Mueck's fine art career began in 1996 when Paula Rego asked him to make a sculpture of Pinocchio as a model for a series of Disney-inspired paintings she was making for the exhibition Spellbound: Art and Film at the Hayward Gallery in London. The sculpture was exhibited alongside Rego's paintings and it caught the attention of Charles Saatchi who commissioned Mueck to make a group of works for his collection. One of these sculptures Dead Dad became the surprise star of the now-legendary Sensation!: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection exhibition at the Royal Academy.
In 2000 the National Gallery in London invited Mueck to be their Associate Artist for two years. His subsequent exhibition toured to Sydney, Berlin and Haarlem in the Netherlands. His colossal Boy attracted awe and admiration at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Ron Mueck's exhibition at the Cartier Foundation in Paris in 2006 broke all records with an attendance of 110,000. Most recently he has had major exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh (2006); the Brooklyn Museum in New York (2006); the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2007) and The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (2007).
The Dream-like quality of many of his sculptures is enhanced by his mastery of his medium, combined with a profound knowledge of anatomy. He lives and works in London.
(above: Ron Mueck, In Bed, 2005-6, Mixed media, 63 34 x 255 7/8 x 155 12 inches, Ed. 1/1. Anthony d'Offay, London)
(above: Ron Mueck, Mask II, 2001/2002 Mixed media,
30 3/8 x 46 1/2 x 33 1/2 inches. Photo credit: Anthony d'Offay, London)
Related event
Editor's note: RL readers may also enjoy:
and from the Web:
Blip.tv
presents Ron Mueck, filmed during
Ron Mueck's residency at The National Gallery, London. The exhibition Ron
Mueck was on view at the Brooklyn Museum, November 3, 2006-February 4,
2007. Video courtesy of The National Gallery, London. Another video on
sculpture is titled Community
Artist: Dan Gerhart which was produced, from start to finish, within
a 4-day workshop by new filmmakers at FilmTreks.com.
Read more articles and essays concerning this institutional source by visiting the sub-index page for the Andy Warhol Museum in Resource Library.
Visit the Table of Contents for Resource Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2007 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.