Ron Mueck

Curated by Hong Leeji, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Chiara Agradi, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. Charlie Clarke, Associate Curator.

From April 11 to July 13 2025, MMCA and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain invite Australian artist Ron Mueck to present his first major solo exhibition in Korea.

This exhibition offers an overview of Mueck’s major works, showcasing an artist who has continuously surprised audiences for over three decades. Viewers can explore the evolution of Mueck’s work through this selection of sculptures from throughout his career, the exhibition will also feature a series of studio photographs and two films by Gautier Deblonde who has documented Mueck’s studio practice for over 25 years.

Ron Mueck, born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1958 and based in the UK since 1986, has pushed boundaries of the sculptural medium with his innovative use of materials, techniques, and methods of expression, exploring the possibilities of modern figurative sculpture.

The exhibition centers around the monumental installation Mass, 2017, comprises one hundred giant human skulls arranged in a different reconfiguration for each venue. The skulls piled high in MMCA’s tall exhibition space, urge viewers to look up, feeling they have entered a once deliberately arranged chamber whose purpose and history is unexplained. The artist created a special installation that takes into account the historical significance of MMCA Seoul’s location and the museum’s architectural features, anticipating that it will offer museum visitors a new and wondrous experience.

Young Couple (2013) introduces what appears to be a harmonious relationship, yet on further scrutiny reveals a more ambiguous dynamic. Woman with Sticks (2009), embodying a timeless and ancestral idea of femininity, seems to appear as a daydream.

Dark Place (2018), a looming man’s head frowning out of a darkened space, seems to focus on conveying the intensity of the subject’s thought rather than his physical detail. chicken / man (2019) presents an unlikely confrontation, a situation to which everyone must bring their own interpretation. These works urge the viewer to look back at earlier sculptures and see them in a new light. Man in a Boat (2002) becomes as a room installation, the whole extent of the space being integral to its mysterious narrative. Even In Bed (2005) seems contained in its own private space, looking into the distance and always slightly avoiding the gaze of the intruding visitor.

The over-sized figure of Ghost (1998/2014) or Mask II (2002), a self-portrait nearly four times larger than actual size, allows the viewer to feel more acutely the awkwardness of a teenaged girl in her changing body, whilst the focused smallness of Woman with Shopping (2013) emphasizes a weary fragility and permits the viewer close enough to scrutinize her burden and the vulnerability and dependance of the baby she carries.

The exhibition features two films and a suite of previously unseen photographs by French photographer and filmmaker Gautier Deblonde, who gives us a rare glimpse into Ron Mueck’s studio and work environment. Still Life was filmed in the run up to Ron Mueck’s 2013 exhibition at the Fondation Cartier and Chicken / Man, documenting the creation of that sculpture, is seen here for the first time.

Mueck’s work goes beyond merely replicating human forms that appear more lifelike than actual people, compelling viewers to turn inward and confront a self-portrait of the times. Each piece takes months, sometimes even years, to complete, prompting reflection on the true meaning and value of art in a modern society driven by speed and instant gratification. In this sense, his work can be seen as a form of resistance to the times. Through fundamental questions about human existence, Mueck’s work guides the audience into a space of introspection, making us recognize both the sensation and significance of our presence in the real world.