Ron Mueck: 25 Years of Sculpture

Extraordinary exhibition at Thaddaeus Ropac of work from the last 25 years by sculptor Ron Mueck.

I have always been fascinated by Mueck’s hyper realistic figures, playing with detail and scale, since I saw them in various Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions and at the National Gallery after he was artist in residence there. They feel so real, part of our space but standing alone.

It is hard to pick out works from the show as I loved them all but I think I have to mention “Woman with Shopping” a wonderful smaller scale woman with a baby tucked into her coat and looking exhausted with two heavy bags of shopping. You can feel the weight of the shopping and responsibility. It feels intrusive to walk up to her and study the incredible detail.

Upstairs in a small unlit room was “Dark Place” which you viewed through the doorway, a giant, ghostly, angst-ridden face, which was hard to view for too long.

My favourite, shown here, was a giant older couple on the beach. A study in tenderness and familiarity as well as age.

A nice touch was that the handout for the show on the website by Jasper Sharp linked the works in the show to Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man speech with gave them an added resonance and pointed to their theatricality.  

Closed 27 November 2021

Review

Guardian


 

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