Ron Mueck - Art and Life

Ron Mueck’s monumental hyperreal sculpture Boy (1999) joined ARoS’ collection after its debut at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Since Boy’s first ARoS display in 2004, the sculpture has played an important role in marking ARoS’ ambition to collect outstanding works of contemporary international art.

In this special exhibition Boy (1999) will be exhibited alongside two of Mueck’s captivating sculptures: A Girl (2006), a 5m long, intricately detailed sculpture of a newborn baby, and Woman with Shopping (2013), a smaller than life-size contemporary take on the timeless subject of the mother and child.

The exhibition invites visitors to consider the human body anew and to reflect on the poignant themes of the trauma and miracle of birth, the overwhelming feeling of motherhood and responsibility for another life, and the physical and psychological vulnerability of the individual self.

The subject of the child and new life is one that Mueck has returned to often. Through altering scale, Mueck creates an appearance of life that holds our attention. The tenderness of these psychologically charged works invites us to contemplate our shared humanity and confronts our relationship to the body, to time, and to existence.

Vilhelm Kier Foundation

C.A.C. Foundation

Aarhuus Stiftstidendes Foundation

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Installation photos: Mads Smidstrup, ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, 2024.