Charlie Clarke in conversation with Andrea Karnes

Ron Mueck’s hyper-real sculptures of the human figure are tender portrayals of people in their most intimate, isolated and vulnerable moments. Manchester Art Gallery on the 2008 ARTIST ROOMS exhibition featuring the work of Ron Mueck

Charlie Clarke, Ron Mueck’s long-time exhibition manager, is in conversation with the Modern’s Senior Curator, Andrea Karnes as they discuss the work and career of Ron Mueck, from his first acclaimed sculpture, Dead Dad, to his most recent installation of 100 giant skulls, Mass, with a particular focus on the works in the Modern’s exhibition Ron Mueck. After gaining international attention with Dead Dad in the controversial and popular exhibition Sensation in 1997, Mueck’s first one-person show was at Anthony d’Offay Gallery in 1998. As stated for a recent exhibition at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Finland, “Mueck has since shown himself to be a major sculptor whose work elicits an immediate emotional response. . .. Mueck’s subject matter – for all its universality – is deeply private, concerning the unspoken thoughts and feelings of all human beings.”

For this Tuesday Evenings presentation, serving as a preview for the exhibition Ron Mueck, which opens February 16, Clarke relays stories of his experiences with the artist and sheds light on the processes and decisions that infuse Mueck’s extraordinary sculptures with an enduring quality that leaves viewers entranced. 

A video recording of this lectures will be available on the Modern's Youtube.