Last Saturday, as I always do when I am in Christchurch, I stopped by to see my good friend Jenny Harper, director of the Christchurch Art Gallery.  I fell in love with the Gallery when I first visited the City early this year, and there has been a new delight each of the four times I’ve returned.  This time the treat was an impromptu preview of the impending exhibition of Ron Mueck’s work, on tour from the National Gallery of Victoria.

Mueck’s monumental self-portrait, “Mask II” (2002).

Born in 1958 in Melbourne of German immigrant parents, Mueck made his initial career as a puppet maker, puppeteer, and model maker in the entertainment industry in Australia.  After a brief stint in the U.S. working with Jim Henson’s team, he traveled to England to work on the feature film Labyrinth.  After that filming he remained in London and started his own company.  Fortunately for all of us, in 1996 Mueck moved in a new direction by starting to sculpt just for art’s sake.

As the artist himself says, “I had always made things for my own amusement but mostly I was creating things to make a living.  The models I had made [for film, television, and advertising] always seemed like pleasing objects in their own right, it was just that they had been created for another purpose … these [new] pieces had no other reason for being and it seemed that was ok.”

A detail of Mueck’s “Wild Man” (2005).

It is far more than OK.  What I saw in my walk-through with Jenny was powerful, thought-provoking, and at times disconcerting.  Uncharacteristically, I lingered at each piece, absorbing the initial impact and then studying it from different angles.  I was fully drawn into each work and often conflicted in my reactions … which is exactly what I think good art should provoke in a viewer.

Of course, it certainly helps that Jenny and the Gallery are smart, discerning, provocative (in all the right ways), fully committed to art rather than distracted by ancillary matters, and tough as nails.  The value of toughness should not be underestimated.  It was no mean feat to mount such a stunning presentation – on schedule and without incident – in the immediate aftermath of a region-wide natural disaster such as the September 4^th earthquake.

The Gallery, unscathed.

The Gallery thankfully came through the quake unscathed.  The building and its engaging glass façade were unharmed.  I did not see so much as a small crack.  Jenny told me that a few works shimmied a bit out of their appointed places, but no damage was done.  In fact, the Gallery was so rock-solid and secure that it was used for a few days by the civil defense authorities as their operations center.

The Mueck exhibit officially opens this Saturday, October 2^nd .  As part of the unveiling on Saturday morning, David Hurlston, curator of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, will profile the artist, discuss the artist’s techniques, and explain how the exhibition came together.  David’s lecture will be in the Philip Carter Family Auditorium at the Gallery at 10:30 a.m., and is free to the public.   Information about other special opening weekend events and about exhibition tickets can be found on the Gallery’s website.

I enthusiastically encourage you to go see the show.  Based on what I saw, I think this will be one of the Gallery’s most popular events ever, and you won’t want to miss it.  After your viewing, you should consider reading “Shyness & Sculpture,” an insightful essay about Mueck’s work by the Gallery’s senior curator, Justin Paton.

Also after your viewing please send me a note with your thoughts about the chicken.