Paris, France —He has renewed contemporary figurative sculpture with a body of work that touches upon the universal. These are large-scale works, often monumental in size. Always imposing, always surprising. In just over 25 years, Australian-born artist Ron Mueck has created 48 works, the most recent completed just in time for the exhibition devoted to the artist being held at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. The show reveals an ensemble of sculptures previously unseen in France alongside the iconic pieces of his career. Visitors can discover his monumental installation Mass (2017) being presented for the first time outside of Australia and an eye-catching new work created especially for the show featuring a group of three large black dogs that do not look especially fun to play with.

Also being exhibited for the first time in France is Dead Weight (2021) a cast-iron skull weighing in at nearly two tons. You an also tune into a short film by French photographer Gautier Deblonde, shot in the artist’s studio on the Isle of Wight and which documents the creation of his latest two works being shocased on the Fondation Cartier’s digital platform. The show was curated by Hervé Chandès along with Charlie Clarke, who is Ron Mueck’s assistant, as the associate curator. 

A journey to the Fondation Cartier is in and of itself worth a visit of the Jean Nouvel building with its lofty glass walls making for a greenery framed glass walled gallery, an ideal exhibition space. It is nestled into a natural setting replete with a backyard garden.  Guided tours snd workshops round out the program while a guided tour of the building and its architecture is held on one Saturday each month. The Ron Mueck exhibition is running until November 5th and will next be presented at Triennale Milano from December 2023 to March 2024 within the framework of the partnership between the Fondation Cartier and the Milanese institution. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/