If you live in the Ottawa area, you won’t want to miss the Ron Mueck exhibit at the National Gallery. It’s the most interesting exhibit I’ve ever seen at the Gallery.
Mueck is a 48-year-old Australian hyper-realist sculptor. He’s had no professional art training: he used to be a cinematic special effects guy. His transformation took place ten years ago when his father died and he created a perfect replica of his father’s naked corpse, only in miniature. He called it Dear Dad, and it’s part of the exhibit. I’m not sure his father would have liked it.
The exhibit will be at the National Gallery until May 6th. Don’t miss the video at the end, so you can see what goes into making an eight-foot-tall pregnant woman. I’ve noticed that people usually watch the videos for a few minutes and then wander off: pretty much everybody stayed till the end of this one.
One last thing: When you’re looking at the sculptures, don’t just look at the sculptures: look at other people’s faces as they look at the sculptures.
Photographs were not permitted, so I had to scrounge some off the net for you. Here are some of the things you wil see if you go:
Huh, the publicity posters for the exhibit didn’t do it any favors but from what you have here, it looks interesting.
these, are great.
I love the little man in the boat. I think the Art Gallery of New South Wales ended up buying that piece for its collection.