Keri - Ron Mueck Exhibit

Today we spent the day at a gallery, which was a different feel from our earlier museum visits. This temporary exhibit was eye-popping with just a scoop of jaw-dropping when I first saw it. I think I've seen this artists work in pictures before, but never in person. The more you looked at a piece the more it revealed in subtle suggestions of an expression or posture. The exhibit played with scale and nothing was held in glass, so you could really get close (behind the tape line on the floor of course).  

Program for the Exhibition

We first had a chase to explore the 2 floors of the exhibition on our own. There were no pictures allowed so I sketched most of them and found pictures online to match up the colors. 

COUPLE UNDER AN UMBRELLA

Huge sculpture of elderly couple at the beach. I loved how she was looking down at him lovingly and though he wasn't looking up at her, he had his hand resting on her arm.

WOMAN WITH SHOPPING

This mother seemed utterly detached from the tiny baby covered in her coat. She's also holding two grocery bags. She like most of the figures seem to be stopped or waiting - not in motion. I felt bad for the baby. 

YOUTH

He looked surprised in discovering his wound. As if it was an afterthought and looked down to see what was going on. I thought it was interesting also that if you stood on his right side you couldn't see the presumed stab wound really but his expression on that side showed the most surprise to me. Where did he get that from?! 

Teamwork: Divide up the 6 Scales and Survey the Entire Exhibit... well focus on 2 and see how far you get

Upstairs

The first piece we decided to deep dive into was called WOMAN WITH STICKS. 

I was assigned the Interior & Body Scale. 

Interior sketch: Composition of the piece and the geometry. I drew a stick figure Keri to show scale.the sticks stand so high they make her seem taller than the viewer though the figure is mush smaller,

Scale of the body: The sticks in relation to the woman are seem overbearing, though she handels them with out grimacing or too much angst. She is bend over backwards as if she just heaved them from the ground. It would be an entirely diff action if the sticks were on her back like a complete burden. From one view she is almost completely obstructed by the sticks. You can only see her face if you look at her from one angle (where you in turn have a backdrop of the garden). She's carrying sticks but she has no dirt on her only some scratches. The sticks are life size (not in relation to the figure). Possibly carrying more than she needs to. Reminds me of a sturdy viking woman or mythical figure. If we were her scale how big would those sticks be? She's naked but somehow has a pony-tail holder...

Downstairs

The second sculpture we chose was called YOUNG COUPLE. 

Interior: you can walk around the entire sculpture, the two figures seem to form one silhouette because they are budded so close to each other, much smaller scale than human size, raised on a pedestal so we see eye to eye with the girl

Scale of the body: I thought the couple looked like they were in their teens, dressed young (especially the hairstyles), from the front they look like they could be whispering to each other and she is very closely pressed to him, her arm is glued to her side and her expression is not sad but not happy either. Then when you walk around the couple a different story is told. He is tightly gripping her wrist and seems to be pulling her close. Her hand looked like a broken wing to me. The muscles in his hand and forearm jut out and he seems to be looming over her as you continue to walk around. Her stance is closed and very straight. He holds one hand in his pocket and his legs are parted in more of a power stance. Yet his expression doesn't tell us much. The whole scene makes you uncomfortable. There is a domineering, subtle restraining that is mixed with the tilting of heads which can suggest affection or argument. Also, she seems to have no other bruising on her (where the artist could've subtly but definitely suggested prior abuse). It made me think about the encounters I see every day and how you don't know the full story... ever. 

brainstorming themes:

Upstairs space w/ mother, chicken, and stick woman - domestication, survival, and possibly cooking

Downstairs - dark surprises