Ron Mueck Exhibition in Tokyo Draws 100,000 Visitors in 34 Days; Giant Skulls Spark Social Media Craze

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, by reporter Tai Ya-chen, 4th) The popularity of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo's Roppongi district continues to rise, surpassing 100,000 visitors in just 34 days since its opening. Due to the astonishing realism and overwhelming scale of the works, many visitors are sharing their experiences on social media, sparking lively discussions.

According to the Mori Art Museum, the 'Ron Mueck' exhibition has received an enthusiastic response from domestic and international visitors since its opening on April 29. The exhibition is an international touring show that began at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris in 2023. After touring Milan and Seoul, it has arrived in Tokyo, co-organized by the Mori Art Museum and the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.

Australian artist Ron Mueck, renowned for his hyper-realistic human sculptures, is famous for his meticulous and lifelike skin textures, hair, and expressions, as well as his deliberate scaling of human proportions. Since the exhibition opened, a flood of photos and videos shared by visitors on social media, many expressing awe at the realism and immense scale of the works, has further fueled the exhibition's popularity.

The museum reported that queues form even before opening on holidays. To meet visitor demand, opening hours will be moved up from 10:00 AM to 9:00 AM on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays from June to September, as well as during the Obon period from August 8 to 16, to disperse crowds and improve the viewing experience. The museum will close at 10:00 PM during the exhibition period.

According to museum statistics, the most popular work on social media platforms like Instagram is 'Mass.' This piece consists of 100 giant skulls stacked in a space of approximately 300 square meters. Each skull has slightly different missing teeth, cracks, and coloration. Visitors can walk among the skulls, which are suitable for 360-degree photography, making it the most impactful work in the exhibition.

The second most popular is 'In Bed,' measuring 6.5 meters in length, depicting a giant middle-aged woman lying in bed. Standing before the work gives one the feeling of having shrunk and wandered into a fairy tale. Many visitors mimic the sculpture's hand-on-cheek pose for photos.

The third most popular is 'Mask II,' a self-portrait sculpture magnified approximately four times. This piece shows the artist's own face in profile, enlarged to about four times its actual size. Pores, stubble, wrinkles, and skin sagging due to gravity are rendered with extreme realism. However, when viewed from the back, the work is completely hollow inside, creating a stark contrast.

In addition to the exhibition itself, the Mori Art Museum has planned various educational outreach activities, including guided tours and a children's mask-making workshop inspired by 'Mask II.'

Ron Mueck was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1958 and currently resides in the UK. He worked in the film and advertising industries for over 20 years before beginning his sculptural work in the mid-1990s, gaining international fame for his highly realistic human sculptures. Because each piece takes months to years to complete, his output is very slow, with only about 50 works created in the past 30 years. He is considered a key figure in contemporary hyper-realistic sculpture.

The 'Ron Mueck' exhibition will run until September 23 at the Mori Art Museum on the 53rd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo. (Editor: Chen Cheng-kung) 1150604