Ronald Hans Mueck (/ˈmjuːɛk/ or /ˈmuːɪk/) (born Hans Ronald Mueck; 9 May 1958) is an Australian sculptor working in the United Kingdom.
Biography
Born in 1958 to German parents in Melbourne, Australia, Ron Mueck grew up in the family business of puppetry and doll-making.[1] He worked initially as a creative director in Australian children's television shows like Shirl's Neighbourhood and Lift Off, before moving to America to work there in film and advertising.[2] Most notably, he designed, performed, and voiced the character of Ludo in the 1986 Jim Henson fantasy film Labyrinth. He later collaborated with Henson again on the TV series The StoryTeller. In 1996, he was asked by Paula Rego, his mother-in-law,[3] to make a small figure of Pinocchio for her group exhibition Spellbound: Art and Film, at the Hayward Gallery, London.[4]
Mueck first came to public attention with his sculpture "Dead Dad". This portrayal of his recently deceased father—at roughly half-scale[5] and made from memory and imagination—was included in the 1997 exhibition Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.[6]
Between 2000 and 2002, Mueck was Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London. During this two-year post he created the works Mother and Child, Pregnant Woman, Man in a Boat, and Swaddled Baby and culminated in an exhibition in 2003.[7]
In 2016 Mueck also received a major solo presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.[12] As part of the Hull UK City of Culture the following year, Mueck's works appeared as part of SKIN, at the Ferens Art Gallery, alongside paintings by Lucian Freud and Édouard Manet, and Spencer Tunick's photographs of his installation Sea of Hull. The exhibition features a new work, Poke, as well as Wild Man, Spooning Couple, Youth, Ghost, and Mask II.[13]
In 2024 15 works are presented in a solo exhibition at Museum Voorlinden.[14] The exhibition features, among others, En Garde (2023), Mass (2016-2017), Big Baby II (1996-97), Man in Blankets (2000), and Couple under an Umbrella (2013), which is permanently on display as one of the museum’s highlights.
Work
Mueck's sculpture responds to the minute details of the human body, playing with scale to produce engrossing visual images (a style known as hyperrealism). Mueck spends a long time, sometimes more than a year, creating each sculpture.[12] His subject matter is deeply private, and is often concerned with people's unspoken thoughts and feelings.
^Hurlston, David; et al. (2011). Ron Mueck (Exhibition Catalog). Melbourne: Yale University Press in association with National Gallery Victoria. p. 20. ISBN978-0-300-17683-4.
^Hurlston, David; et al. (2011). Ron Mueck (Exhibition Catalog). Melbourne: Yale University Press in association with National Gallery Victoria. p. 9. ISBN978-0-300-17683-4.
^Greeves, Susanna; Colin Wiggins (2003). Ron Mueck. London: National Gallery Company. pp. 23–41. ISBN1-85709-167-1.