Spin Events
Ron Mueck
In Bed, 2005 by Ron Mueck (c) Ron Mueck, courtesy Anthony d'Offay, London. Photographer: Mike Bruce, Gate Studios, London
Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
21 September 2006, 6-7.30pm
To kick off the Autumn season, we will be taking a closer look at one of the most talked about shows at this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival, Ron Mueck.
The Australian-born, London-based artist is the first contemporary artist to be given a solo show in the refurbished galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy Building. The exhibition contains ten works, including the recently completed monumental sculpture of a newborn baby, A Girl (2006), five new works first shown at the Fondation Cartier in Paris earlier this year, and four previous works including Man in a Boat (2002) and Ghost (1998).
Ron Mueck previously worked in the special effects industry, but his career took a dramatic turn when he was asked by his mother-in-law, the artist Paula Rego, to create a model of Pinocchio. The sculpture was noticed and bought by Charles Saatchi. So impressed was Saatchi by this work that he asked Mueck to create more and to appear in the 1997 Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. The now infamous sculpture, Dead Dead (1996-97), a half life-size replica of his dead father’s naked body, drew considerable attention.
Some critics love Mueck’s work. Others hate it. Jonathan Jones of The Guardian described the exhibition as ’ blank, empty and brainless’. You will get the chance to make up your own mind up as we discuss the works with our special guest, Edinburgh artist Wendy McMurdo.