An exhibition in London traces Ron Mueck's entire career from 1996 to the present

Through Nov. 27, 2021, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, in its London Ely House location, is hosting an exhibition spanning the entire career of Ron Mueck (Melbourne, 1958), one of the most famous hyperrealist artists. Entitled 25 Years of Sculpture. 1996-2001, the exhibition, curated by Jasper Sharp, displays works spanning a quarter-century: it was in fact 1996 when Mueck made his first works.

The one at Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, in addition to being Mueck’s first exhibition at the French dealer’s premises (which has represented Mueck since 2020: before that, the Australian artist was part of the Hauser & Wirth stable), is also his most comprehensive exhibition to date in a gallery, and many celebrated sculptures alongside new and previously unseen works. Together, these works trace the full spectrum of the human experience according to Ron Mueck, from the beginning of life in pregnancy and birth to its end point in death. In these works, curator Sharp explains, “Mueck draws on his own intensely personal thoughts, emotions and life experiences to produce a register of universal emotions and experiences that we can all relate to. And they share a sense of life, and death, and everything in between.”

Works on view include Dead dad (1996-1997), one of Mueck’s earliest works, which was first shown in the legendary Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1997 and was instrumental in shaping his international reputation. The intensity of this work, which embodies the artist’s personal loss but also speaks to universal experiences of the parent-child bond, is heightened by its incredibly realistic and yet lifeless quality. Another masterpiece in the exhibition is Dark place from 2018, where Ron Mueck’s unparalleled eye for physical and psychological detail scrupulously examines individual and universal emotions, which include in this case compassion, alienation, vulnerability and loss. Then again Mother and child from 2003, part of a triptych on motherhood that includes Pregnant woman from 2002 and Woman with shopping from 2014, and the famous Couple under an umbrella from 2013-2015.

For all information you can visit the Ropac Gallery website.

Image: Ron Mueck, Couple under an umbrella (2013-2015; mixed media, 277 x 455 x 330 cm).

An exhibition in London traces Ron Mueck's entire career from 1996 to the present

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