Ron Mueck: Encounter

“ . . . provoke feelings of wonder, whilst tapping into our vulnerabilities and anxieties around life’s transience.”

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The first thing that strikes you about Ron Mueck’s astounding figurative sculptures are their scale. The gigantic head of an infant dominates an entire gallery space, whilst a diminutive elderly woman lies in bed, as tiny as a doll. Since the 1990s this Australian artist has created hyper-realistic human sculptures so shockingly real that they take your breath away. Whether monumental or miniature, each figure is painstakingly precise in anatomical detail; every hair, wrinkle or blemish rendered with microscopic accuracy. The effect on the viewer is powerful and voyeuristic, yet unsettling; you almost sense the sculptures might come alive as you exit the room.

This summer, Sydney audiences will have the chance to experience his work firsthand with the staging of the most comprehensive exhibition of Mueck’s work ever seen in Australia; showcasing both older iconic works with new sculptures, gathering together his works from collections across the globe.

Born in Melbourne to German toy-makers, Mueck began his career as a model maker in TV and film for Jim Henson before moving to London and, eventually, into fine art. His 1997 work Dead Dad – a haunting, three-foot sculpture of his deceased father – catapulted him into international acclaim when it appeared in Charles Saatchi’s groundbreaking Sensation: Young British Artists exhibition. Since then, Mueck has become one of the most recognisable figures in contemporary sculpture, with works in major museums from London’s Tate Gallery to the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Canada. His solo exhibitions – from Melbourne to Rio de Janeiro to Seoul – have drawn record crowds, proof of the powerful connection his figures make with audiences.

His figures usually reflect life’s milestones – pregnancy, birth, adolescence, old age, sickness and death. Yet exaggerating or diminishing their size seems to enhance their hyper-reality, as well as their physical carnality. The idiosyncratic poses, gestures and facial expressions of his subjects, also add psychological intensity to the artworks. These life-like beings provoke feelings of wonder, whilst tapping into our vulnerabilities and anxieties around life’s transience.

Among his best-known works, Boy, 2001 wowed audiences at the Venice Biennale with its crouching, colossal adolescent figure embodying the awkwardness of youth. Later, Mass, 2017, a towering installation of one hundred giant skulls, served as a visceral memento mori, a meditation on mortality. Mueck also finds poignancy in the everyday: a weary mother juggling a baby and grocery bags; an enormous couple lounging in saggy swimsuits under a beach umbrella, exuding both humour and tenderness.

Behind each work lies extraordinary craftsmanship. Working largely alone in his Isle of Wight studio, Mueck sculpts clay models before casting them in resin or silicone, meticulously painting and applying real hair and fabrics. His slow, exacting process means he has completed fewer than fifty sculptures over three decades, each one a masterwork of observation and artistry.

The Sydney exhibition will also unveil a striking new series that departs from the human form. In Havoc, 2025, a pack of wild dogs captured mid-motion, channels our collective fear and aggression, acting as a metaphor for contemporary social anxieties.

For Australian viewers, visiting Encounter will be an unforgettable experience; as you enter a spectacular world of Gulliver-like giants and Lilliputian miniatures, you might leave with a reflective and restored sense of our own shared humanity.

 

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Victoria Hynes is a visual arts writer and editor based in Sydney.

 

Art Gallery of New South Wales
6 December 2025 to 12 April 2026
Sydney

Originally published in print – Art Almanac, December 2025 / January 2026 issue, pp. 18–21