I am generally unimpressed by figurative sculptures that are realistically rendered, but I will make an exception for this untitled work by London artist Ron Mueck. Mueck spent much of his professional career as a puppeteer and model maker. He used an airbrush to render this shockingly accurate rendition of human flesh. When a first-time visitor enters the room they remain startled until it registers the figure is a work of art and unreal. The sculpture sits in the corner of an otherwise empty room. The open space amplifies the impact of this work. This monumental yet unidealized human figure stands in stark contrast to Renaissance sculptures that attempt to celebrate the beauty and perfection of the human figure.
Mueck also masterfully manipulates scale — the figure shown here is oversized and sits approximately 7 feet tall. When you first see the figure in an empty room its size is not apparent. It is only when you approach the figure that you comprehend how large it is in comparison to your own body. An enormous, naked, hairless, blue-eyed, white male seemingly sent to the corner of the room — as if in timeout. You can sense the power in the figure, but its position and expression leaves it vulnerable and ineffectual. The Big Man watches the activities in the room out of the corner of his eye with a hint of disdain, as if waiting for his castigation and public embarrassment to end — forcefully unreal.