Over 20 years ago, I was a teenager sitting in the living room of a relative’s home, while a tense family gathering went on in the kitchen. I didn’t want to be there, so I had snuck out into the living room and turned the television on, and was channel surfing (in those days, by turning the dial on the TV – ye Gods!) when I came across a “making of” special for the movie Labyrinth.
Now being the fourteen year old devoted Bowie fan that I was, there was no more channel surfing for me that night. I was DYING to see Labyrinth because yes, it contained my two favourite things in the whole world – muppets and David Bowie.
I remember the moment very well. They were showing the complex, cutting edge special effects and character creating work that was being done to create characters like Hoggle, Sir Didymus and a huge beast called Ludo. There was a young creature designer who was making a beautiful character of a wise man with a bird in his hat. He was also a puppeteer who was one of the two men able to fit inside the suit that carried Ludo… and at that moment, my love for Ron Mueck’s work was born.
Years later I happened upon an article in a magazine about his piece, Dead Dad, which was receiving some acclaim, and remember wishing that I could see it myself some day. I followed his career avidly, and then in 2005, his piece, Pregnant Woman, came to the Queensland Art Gallery for a short while.
Of course I made a concerted effort to go and see Pregnant Woman, and was not in any way disappointed. The piece is beautiful, and Mueck’s work exquisitely detailed. I have often remarked since that it is impossible to refer to the piece as “it” when she is so remarkably realistic and life-like, as though you expect her to take a breath, or stretch her back, or see the baby move in her belly.
So when I heard that there was to be an exhibit of several of Ron’s pieces here in Brisbane at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) this year, I was absolutely beside myself. Finally I was going to get to see Dead Dad, In Bed, Mask II and others “in the flesh” so to speak.
Yesterday, I went along, and was not disappointed. There are 12 pieces in the exhibit in total, each of them beautiful, powerful, hyper-real and deeply moving. I only had my iPhone with me but I caught some photos of each piece, and I will share them with you below.
Dead Dad
A Girl – this piece is so huge I couldn’t get her all into a shot. The face is so beautifully detailed it’s almost ok to just show you that much.
Wild Man – this is now my favourite Mueck piece, and reduced me to tears it’s so beautiful. I felt a really deep, emotional reaction to this piece, I wanted to reassure Wild Man that he wouldn’t be harmed, to make sure he was warm and safe. I took about 15 photos of different angles, and close ups of some of the detail. Look at these:
Wild Man’s Feet – is that not the most exquisite work you’ve ever seen? Mueck does hands and feet so realistically that I find myself fascinated with them.
More Feet – from the piece Drift
Drift
Woman with Sticks – I love how Mueck represents bodies as not only hyper-real, but realistic. They are not perfect, they are everyday bodies, quite literally warts and all in some cases.
In Bed
Two Old Women – Can you not feel the disapproval of these two little old ladies?
Old Woman in Bed – another deeply moving piece.
A Man in a Boat – his expression and posture just fills me with glee.
Mask II – a self portrait of the artist.
Youth
I have to go back to Wild Man to share his hands with you:
The nail! The knuckles! The hair!
The pad of his thumb had me mesmerised.
If you’re in Brisbane, or visiting Brisbane before 1st of August, do not miss this. It’s only $12 for adult admission, and it is worth every cent. I intend to return to see it again before it finishes.
For information, go to the Queensland Art Gallery website.
