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RON MUECK NOVEMBER 19, 2005—FEBRUARY 19, 2006 VISIT OF THE EXHIBITION In the mid-nineties, Australian artist Ron Mueck redefined realism as an aesthetic, thus renewing the language of contemporary sculpture. The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in France of this exceptionally gifted artist whose renown has spread internationally in just a few years. The Fondation Cartier has given the sculptor the entire ground floor level; the transparency of the building’s glass-enclosed spaces offers a spectacular setting for his works. The exhibition presents a series of five new pieces created specially for the occasion. The naked Wild Man is a large seated figure who appears tense and fearful. Spooning Couple represents a man and woman lying in bed together in a foetal position, suggesting both intimacy and solitude. Mask III is the portrait of a black woman wearing an expression of peace and content. Two Women depicts a pair of elderly ladies gazing off into the distance. In Bed portrays a giant female figure who is gently waking up in her bed. With these new pieces, Ron Mueck continues to explore reality’s ambiguous relationship to artifice. Brillantly employing the strategies of imitation and illusion, he creates figures that express the contradictions between the real world and the world of the imaginary. His figures are so lifelike that we instinctively expect them to begin breathing. Veins, wrinkles, sagging skin, moles, body hair, rashes… every detail has been crafted to such perfection that the remarkably convincing result can be disturbing. The artist, who began his career creating marionettes, does not strive to reproduce reality as we perceive it; by scrupulously imitating each of nature’s details, he gives life to strange and unsettling figures. The onlooker is automatically disconcerted by their size, always larger or smaller than human scale (the crouching figure Boy, his most famous piece, is five metres high). Similarly, certain anatomical proportions may be stretched and accentuated, or the subject’s posture might appear untenable. The artist’s manifest sensitivity as well as his technical mastery of his materials enable him to create this ambiguous sense of realism. After years of sculpting with fibreglass alone, Ron Mueck now also works with the more flexible silicone, which allows him greater ease in shaping certain body parts, such as hands and heads, and in implanting individual hairs. Yet the extraordinary subtlety of Mueck’s work dwells first and foremost in its power to evoke, to suggest. Beyond their physical presence, Ron Mueck’s figures express individual emotions and experiences. Accessories such as a piece of clothing or some bed linens hint at a plot, suggesting a larger environment that allows each viewer to elaborate his own personal narrative. Every work of art expresses an individual, intimate state where the stuff of artistic realism shifts toward the realm of psychology. Through their emotional power, Ron Mueck’s pieces surprise and fascinate. These characters are meant to be observed slowly, so that the shock of the first glance can gradually be replaced by the dynamics of imagination. Each of Mueck’s hyper-sensitive creations presents a curious mirror of reality that conveys observers towards a hidden dimension of themselves. Wild Man, 2005 112 1 /8 x 63 3 /4 x 41 1 /3 in. A naked, bearded man with tousled hair and a wild appearance is clutching the stool he is seated upon. His tense body and oblique gaze echo the profound angst the environment provokes within him. For this sculpture, Ron Mueck makes use of the Fondation Cartier’s physical structure by extending the exhibition space into the surrounding garden. His character is placed against a natural background from which he seems to have emerged against his will, only to be exposed to the unwelcome scrutiny of viewers. His silhouette, visible from the Boulevard Raspail, invites passers-by to come discover the phantasmagorical universe of Ron Mueck. 2
Spooning Couple, 2005 5 1 /2 x 25 5 /8 x 13 3 /4 in. A man and a woman, lying naked side by side, are caught in the intimacy of light sleep. The absence of physical contact between them belies the apparent serenity of the scene. As a result, physical presence mutates into absence, closeness becomes distance, and the comfort of two is transformed into the solitude of one. Among Ron Mueck’s sculptures, this piece is exceptional: it is the first time that the artist has left the theme of a single character behind in order to focus on the relationship between two people. Mask III, 2005 61 x 52 x 44 1 /2 in. Mask III follows Ron Mueck’s self-portraits Mask (1997) and Mask II (2001). Inspired by a striking woman of his acquaintance, Mueck has created a third mask that is his first portrait of a woman of colour. The munificence of her radiantly smiling face is the artist’s tribute to this feminine beauty. Two Women, 2005 33 1 /2 x 18 7 /8 x 15 in. Here, as in Spooning Couple, Ron Mueck introduces the observer to a pair of characters bound by a common experience. Two elderly ladies, presented together, are gazing in the same direction. The artist had previously evoked old age through solitary old women whose patent introversion suggested suffering or loneliness. In this piece, the women are looking not inward, but outward: the constraints of the private sphere are left behind in favour of an unrestricted openness. In Bed, 2005 63 3 /4 x 255 7 /8 x 155 1 /2 in. A woman in her forties is in bed, propped up on some pillows. Fresh out of sleep, she is holding her face with her right hand and appears to be lost in her reflections. As with Boy, the enormous squatting lad first shown at the Venice Biennale in 2001, Ron Mueck has created a new piece of monumental dimensions. Intimidating the viewer through her sheer size, deeply absorbed in thought, the woman in bed may evoke loneliness, melancholy, or serenity. The range of possible interpretations allows viewers to create a personal fiction that reflects their inner self. Within the framework of the Ron Mueck exhibition, young visitors (6 and older) are invited to join sculpture workshops where they will create their own pieces. These workshops will be held on Wednesdays, December 21, 2005 and January 18, 2006 at 3 pm. In addition, the notions of scale that distinguish Mueck’s work will be explored through photo workshops* scheduled for Wednesdays, December 14, 2005 and January 25, 2006 at 3 pm. Complete list of activities for children on page 9 *Event presented in partnership Nikon.
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