Ron Mueck's Sculpture at the Museu de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey

Written by Alexei MacCarthy Thursday, 19 May 2011 20:49

Monterrey, Mexico.- The first time that the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO) ever presented a work by Ron Mueck was in 1999, in the exhibition, "Casa de la Escultura". The sculpture was an elderly woman, "Untitled (Seated Woman)", and caught the attention of the public not just for the exacting copy of a human being, but also for the sullen and tired face of the woman who was inviting a reflection on old age. This year, MARCO is honored to exhibit the sculptor’s first large scale show in Latin America. "Ron Mueck" is on view to the public until Sunday, 31st July.

The artist captured the attention of the critics with "Dead Dad" (1996-1997), a small-scale sculpture of the sculptor’s father naked and lying down. He also received notable acclaim at the 2001 Venice Biennale when representing his country with "Boy" (2000), a gigantic almost five-meter tall figure of an adolescent. Mueck has won an outstanding place in the world art scene in a relatively short time thanks to the impressive verisimilitude of the most incredible anatomical details of his personages that cause the spectator to reflect on the limits between reality and fiction.

His works have the particularity of showing the individuals in the most exposed and vulnerable states generating a profound physical and emotional empathy. The majority evoke fundamental human experiences, like birth, childhood, maternity, childbirth, maturity, old age and death. Others offer an enigmatic narrative impregnated with metaphors and allegories. In "Man in a Boat" (2002), one sees an unclothed man inside a boat with carefully combed hair whose expression denotes expectation and apprehension. In spite of the meticulous details of the scene, it seems more like an image of a materialized dream that might be interpreted as a metaphor of life, a journey without a defined destination.


Ron Mueck utilizes scale in his sculptures to provide emotive and expressive effects. The space also plays a crucial role in the interaction with the work and the action that it represents. The monumental scale gives the spectator an advantageous position to study the expressions and to analyze each detail of the body language. After the initial intense reaction to the giant scale and its realistic appearance, the familiarity of the scene allows the observer, for example, to identify themselves with similar situations of introspection, as is the case with "In the Bed" (2005), or to admire the fragility and vulnerability of the human being in "A Little Girl" (2006). The encounter with Mueck’s work produces a constant sensation of being an intruder or a snoop who is interrupting an intimate moment. His pensive figures capture moments of solitary reflection, with eyes open and a gaze lost in apparent indifference to the world around them, of the spectator who is observing them.

Mueck is able to express in them the notion of introspection and masterfully reveal the level of sophistication of a thought. Each one of Ron Mueck's sculptures communicates a panorama of the rich and complex interior life that develops in that moment and challenges the intellect to think that is does not matter how real some images may seem, in the end they are merely representations.


The Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, MARCO, is one of the most important cultural centers in Latin America whose efforts are aimed at the promotion of international contemporary art, emphasizing the dissemination of Latin American visual arts. MARCO is distinguished by its beauty, created by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta recognized internationally famous for the modern application to domestic issues. Legorreta creates different environments and atmospheres at each corner, prompting a visit to the Museum is a unique experience. The permanent collection is composed of Latin American paintings. Many Mexican artists has been exhibited in the temporary exhibitions, among them: Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Hermenegildo Bustos, Julio Galán, Matthias Goeritz, Teodoro González de León, Enrique Guzmán, Ricardo Legorreta, Ricardo Mazal, Miriam Medrez, Armando Salas Portugal, Rodolfo Morales, Paula Santiago, Alberto Vargas and Frida Kahlo. international artists including Joan Brossa, Jenny Holzer, Ana Mendieta, Antony Gormley, Henry Moore, Cory Hanson, Michael Ray-Von and Isamu Noguchi have also exhibited at MARCO. MARCO has 16 thousand square meters of construction, 5 000 are distributed in 11 exhibition halls, the rest are the spaces as the central courtyard with its impressive water mirror, the Auditorium, Shop, Restaurant and Patio of sculptures. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.marco.org.mx

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