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Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Presents
The Ron Mueck exhibition will be on view to the public at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth from June 24 through October 21, 2007. The exhibition was previously on view at the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Special exhibitions are included in general Museum admission: $8 for adults; $4 for seniors (60+) and students with identification; free for children 12 and under; free for Modern members.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents a special exhibition of work by renowned contemporary sculptor Ron Mueck from June 24 through October 21, 2007. Mueck, a virtuoso of hyperrealistic sculpture, has earned international recognition, with previous major exhibitions in London, Venice, Washington, and Berlin. Over the past decade, the Australian-born, London-based artist has created a personal, distinctive body of works whose startling impact have given a fresh impulse to contemporary sculpture.
Mueck’s intensely realistic sculptures of friends and relatives isolated from their normal context, and often larger or smaller than life-size, evoke a range of human conditions, such as vulnerability, and emotional responses, such as pity. Of his decision to manipulate scale—some subjects are miniaturized, while others are magnified into monumental portraits—the artist has commented, "I change the scale intuitively, really—avoiding life-size because it’s ordinary. There’s no math involved; I usually do a sketch on paper and if it looks good to me, then I use that scale for the actual piece. The shift in scale draws you in and in some ways engages you at a different level."
As a child Mueck often made toys, and as a young man he began his career making puppets for children’s television programs, including Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. To create his works, the artist uses the traditional sculptural process of molding and casting, but he incorporates contemporary materials. He first makes a mold from clay and then casts it in silicone, touching up and adding color and props as he progresses. In a sense, his sculpture extends the idea of photo-based art, which usually manifests itself in the form of paintings. The Modern’s curator, Andrea Karnes, comments, "Mueck’s art offers us a glimpse of something ‘real,’ but not life-size, and because his subjects are isolated, we focus in on them in a new way. Through his creative process, the artist makes a poignant and psychologically charged portrait. His work is powerful; its strange believability compels us to look closely."
Ron Mueck’s Untitled (Seated Woman), 1999, in the Modern’s permanent collection, became a community favorite when it was first put on exhibit for the opening of the Modern’s new building in 2002. Since that time, the Museum has continued to receive numerous comments, e-mail messages, and inquiries from visitors about this much-loved work of art. Thirteen works will be on view in the special exhibition, including Untitled (Seated Woman), 1999; the critically acclaimed Dead Dad, 1996–97, a scrupulously rendered, three-foot-long sculpture of the artist’s father lying naked on the floor; Wild Man, 2005, a nine-foot sculpture of a bearded man clutching the stool he is seated on; and Baby, 2000, a ten-inch-long newborn infant. A thirty-minute video showing the artist at work will also be part of the exhibition, along with examples of his working materials and casts.
A full checklist is available upon request.
About the artist
Catalogue
Credits
LOCATION
Museum Gallery Hours
General Admission Prices (includes special exhibition)
CAFÉ MODERN
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©2007, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth