In recent days I've become a hound for galleries and museums. I just felt the need to see more new stuff...
In Melbourne back in March I went to see the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. He only began making 'art' in his late 30's, after working in film and television for many years, and his mother in law is Paula Rego. That in itself is enough to make me a fan. I mean, who wouldn't be a fan of anyone even distantly related to her? I'd be fascinated if you told me you knew her milkman or postie.
Regardless of his family connections you can't deny that this retrospective, starting with the famous Dead Dad is a hit with a normal (and I use that term in the loosest sense of the word) audience. The place was packed. The life like nature is hard to tear yourself away from. But is it the filmic quality to his work that really transfixes. This is real life, or as close as you can get when confronted with a 12 ft baby - it amplifies everything that is good or bad about the human body and invites you to create a narrative of your own. Makes everyday scenes monumental and unnatural scenes everyday. I just love the two old women having a conflab together. I can spend hours just imagining what they are talking about, what they popped out to get and what they are doing tonight (Mecca Bingo? Wetherspoons? Fish And Chips? Plotting the murder of their husbands?).
If you want to see really lovely photos of this exhibition check out this blog...
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