Okay, to say that I nearly wet my pants with excitement when I found out Ron Mueck was having his first EVER major exhibition in Australia, would be an understatement. To then realize that is was being exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria was the absolute cherry on top of my polyester resin and silicone sculptured cake :) That was all I needed to hear- Ron & Melbourne, and I was already online receiving a flight confirmation. Any person that knows me relatively well, knows that I tend to visit Melbourne every possible chance I get, and considering that Ron Mueck was going to be in town- this was certainly no exception.
The evocative sculptures of Ron Mueck are now some of the most identifiable and widely acclaimed work of our time. Even if you have no interest in art, the exhibition is in no way exclusive- I saw mother's with their toddlers, couples in their 80's, teenagers, tourists, children, students... one of the most diverse audiences that I have been amongst within a gallery setting. It drew all diverse kinds of people, just because of the sheer brilliance and the imitability of life that Mueck creates.
As I stood next to the famous Wild man, 2005, I was anxious- just waiting for him to look back at me, flex his hands or scratch his beard. You become trapped in this bizarre relationship with the sculpture, as his mere size immediately confronts us, yet his emotional expressions and body language suggests that he is in fact more afraid of us then we can any longer be of him. It is simultaneously both the most awkward and amazing experience to be standing in the same room as one of Mueck's sculptures, as you are left feeling unease through both the voyeuristic awkwardness and also the vulnerability of the characters. Often naked and suspended in states of self-consciousness or deep contemplation, the figures create both physical and emotional states of exposure through their realism and their display of such private moments of despair, fear, pain, confusion, relaxation & intimacy.
AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING.
