From dreaming giants to skull mountains, Ron Mueck's hyperrealist vision grips Seoul

Australian artist Ron Mueck's "Mass," a towering mound of 100 human skull sculptures that collectively weigh over 5 tons, is on view at his retrospective at Seoul's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Newsis

How many sculptures did it take for Australian artist Ron Mueck to summon record-breaking crowds to Seoul’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA)? Just 10.

Stand before them, and you’ll understand — the spell is immediate.

From an absurd standoff between a semi-nude old man and a defiant chicken to a woman stretched out in a 6.5-meter-long bed, Mueck’s handmade sculptures are eerily lifelike. With every wrinkle, vein and pore rendered in startling detail, his figures — either larger or smaller than life, but never quite life-size — seem caught mid-breath, as if they might blink or turn their eyes to meet their gazers’ at any second.

Ron Mueck's "Dark Place" (2018) is on view at MMCA in central Seoul. Newsis

These hyperrealist recreations in silicone hold visitors in a hush of alluring unease; their presence unsettling, yet so absorbing it demands a second look, then a third.

It helps, too, that they make compelling subjects for photographs — perfect fodder for the social media posts that have become a ritual among younger exhibition-goers in recent years.

Perhaps that’s why “Ron Mueck” at the MMCA — the artist’s largest-ever retrospective in Asia, co-organized with the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art — surpassed 100,000 visitors by April 30, just 20 days after opening, with a record-setting average of 5,000 attendees per day.

"Ron Mueck" at the MMCA surpassed 100,000 visitors just 20 days after its opening, with a record-setting average of 5,000 attendees per day. Courtesy of MMCA

“None of his works is an attempt to explain something, to preach something or to speak to the audiences from a position of greater knowledge or authority,” said Charlie Clarke, the artist’s longtime studio director, during a press preview. “The work is [instead] an attempt to allow a space for the viewers to contemplate for themselves.”

The son of a toymaker, Mueck began his career in film and children’s television as a puppet and model maker, before wowing the art world in 1997 with “Dead Dad,” a half-scale sculpture of his late father as a naked corpse. Fragile, personal and unflinching, it became a haunting debut that lingered in the minds of those who saw it.

In the nearly three decades since, he has created just 48 works, each meticulously shaped through a labor-intensive process of clay modeling and silicone casting.

“Although I spend a lot of time on the surface, it is the life inside I want to capture,” the 66-year-old once said of his oeuvre.

Ron Mueck's "In Bed" (2005) / Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol

Ron Mueck's "chicken / man" (2019) / Newsis

At the Seoul museum, that inner life pulses quietly beneath the skin of his sculptures. His figures — often vulnerably naked or barely clothed — lie reposed under a bed sheet, lost in thought (“In Bed”); slump under the weight of a baby and bulging shopping bags (“Woman with Shopping”); or sit adrift in a wooden boat, peering forward at the unknown in quiet apprehension (“Man in a Boat”). Each is suspended in a moment of deeply human tension — private yet universally understood.

In other vignettes, an unexplained backstory simmers just beneath the surface. In “chicken / man,” why are a man and a chicken locked in an improbable staring contest? Who will blink first? Is the bird even real, or merely a projection of the man’s creeping paranoia?

In “Young Couple,” what is the true nature of the relationship between the two adolescents? Their body language and hand gestures seem to tell two different stories, shifting subtly depending on whether you approach them from the front or the back.

Ron Mueck's "Mask II" (2002) / Yonhap

Mueck also inserts himself into the show. “Mask II” presents his own oversized face resting on its side, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, seemingly lost in deep slumber.

From the front, it appears disarmingly human. But seen from the side, it’s revealed as nothing more than a thin, hollow shell.

The configuration of Ron Mueck's "Mass" at the MMCA is partly inspired by the Paris Catacombs. Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol

However, the centerpiece of the exhibition is not a fleshy facsimile, but something altogether different: “Mass,” a towering mound of 100 sculpted human skulls, collectively weighing over 5 tons.

The installation commands attention not only for its colossal scale, but for its stark, symbol-laden presence. Its arrangement changes from venue to venue, reconfigured to mirror the architectural character of each space.

At the MMCA, the skulls rise in solemn grandeur from an underground gallery with soaring ceilings — a placement that, according to studio director Clarke, was inspired by the Paris Catacombs, where human remains were deliberately stacked for centuries, with some eventually collapsing into downward cascades.

A scene from Gautier Deblonde's documentary "Still Life: Ron Mueck at Work" (2013) / Courtesy of Gautier Deblonde

“Through human figures that embody the universal aspects of our lives, rendered with an incredible level of realism, Mueck’s works stir immediate emotion and a sense of empathy,” said MMCA curator Hong Lee-ji.

“Because such moments of awe and contemplation so often lead to deeper questions about our own existence, we’ve seen a remarkable amount of conversation taking place among visitors inside the gallery.”

“Ron Mueck” runs through July 13 at the MMCA Seoul. It will travel to the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo next year.