Ron Mueck figures

Following the work of Duane Hanson I thought I’d take a look at the work of contemporary Hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck. While Hanson’s figures deceive the eye by being ‘lifesize’, Mueck’s studies of the human figure are more challenging. While being realistic in every detail, Mueck plays with scale, altering our own perception of the human body – babies the size of cars, adults the size of cats.
Mueck is an Australian (born 1958) living and working in the UK. His early career was as a model maker and puppeteer for children's television and films, notably the film Labyrinth and the Jim Henson series The Storyteller.
He moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry but increasingly he wanted to produce more realistic sculptures.
In 1996 Mueck made the transition to fine artist, collaborating with his mother-in-law, Paula Rego, to produce small figures as part of a tableau she was showing at the Hayward Gallery. Rego introduced him to Charles Saatchi who was immediately impressed and started to collect and commission work. This led to the piece which made Mueck's name, Dead Dad being included in the Sensation show at the Royal Academy the following year. Dead Dad is a silicone and mixed media sculpture of the corpse of Mueck's father reduced to about two thirds of its natural scale. It is the only work of Mueck's that uses his own hair for the finished product.

 Dead Dad (1996-7)

His five metre high sculpture Boy was a feature in the Millennium Dome and later exhibited in the Venice Biennale. Mueck's work is now exhibited and housed in collections around the world.

 Boy (1999)

 Big Baby Head (1997)

 Seated Woman (1999)

 Big Man (2000)

 Mask II (self-portrait 2001-2)

 Pregnant Woman (2001)

 In Bed (2005)

 Spooning Couple (2005)

 Two Women (2005)

 Wild Man (2005)

A Girl (2006)