EYE CANDY

Ron Mueck’s Giant Sculptures of People Are Mesmerizing, Very Unsettling


Between refusing interviews and keeping his artistic output to a minimum—just a few dozen sculptures in the last 20 years—the Australian sculptor Ron Mueck tends to play by his own rules. That’s especially true when it comes to the artist’s proportions: though hair-raisingly realistic, his reproductions of humans ranging from newborns to octogenarians are often either shrunken or super-sized, like 16-foot figures fashioned from clay, resin, and even Mueck’s own hair. Fresh from a world tour stretching from Paris to Sao Paulo, 13 of those works—a third of Mueck’s oeuvre to date—will be on view from this Sunday until May in a new survey exhibition at Houston‘s Museum of Fine Arts. Get to know Mueck’s motley family with a preview of the show, here.

1
Gift of Helen and Charles Schwab through the Art Supporting Foundation to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Mask II,” 2001–02.

2
Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Patrick Gries. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Couple under an Umbrella,” 2013.

3
ISelf Collection, London. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Alex Delfanne. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Youth,” 2009.

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Courtesy Anthony d’Offay, London. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Man in a Boat,” 2002.

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The Broad Art Foundation. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Crouching Boy in Mirror,” 1999–2002.

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National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “A Girl,” 2006.

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Private Collection. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Man in Blankets,” 2000.

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Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Stefan Altenburger Photography Zürich. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Mother and Child,” 2001–03.

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Collection Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman, New York. Courtesy FLAG Art Foundation. Photo: Patrick Gries. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Two Women,” 2005.

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Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Stefan Altenburger Photography Zürich. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Still Life,” 2009.

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Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Museum purchase. Photograph by Kevin Todora. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Untitled (Seated Woman),” 1999.

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Collection of the artist, Courtesy Hauser & Wirth and Anthony d’Offay, London. Photo: Patrick Gries. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Woman with Shopping,” 2013.

13
Yageo Foundation Collection, Taiwan. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Patrick Gries. © Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck, “Young Couple,” 2013.