Ron Mueck / Australia

Australia born 1958, works in England 1986–

Inspired by the complex biological structure of the human skull – which the artist considers beautiful and extraordinary – Ron Mueck’s new work Mass, 2016–17, celebrates a form that links us as a species. Mass is also a sombre study of mortality, and comprising 100 individual human skulls it calls to mind iconic images of massed remains in the Paris catacombs as well as the documentation of contemporary human atrocities in Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebrenica and Iraq. The skull has been a potent symbol within the art of virtually all cultures and religions, not least the Western history of art, including in Dutch still-life painting and the vanitas painting genre of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which served as a reminder of the transience of life. To draw out and contextualise these resonances, this monumental work has been placed within the historical collection galleries of NGV International.

BIO

Born in Melbourne in 1958, Mueck has been based in the United Kingdom since 1986. He has explored the possibilities of the human form, first as a special-effects worker creating photorealistic props and animatronics for the film and advertising industries (under pioneering puppeteer Jim Henson), and later as an artist. Mueck had early success as part of the landmark 1997 exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. The overwhelming public response to his work has since led him to be seen as Australia’s most successful contemporary artist internationally, with his work shown throughout the world. As a sculptor, Mueck is now arguably the preeminent international exponent of hyperrealism.