Ron Mueck
Ronald Hans Mueck (or /ˈmuːɪk/) (born Hans Ronald Mueck; 9 May 1958) is an Australian sculptor working in the United Kingdom.
Also recorded as Hans Ronald Mueck · Ronald Mueck
Ron Mueck

Jack1956 · Photographed by me at the w:British Museum August 2010 · CC0
- Name
- Ron Mueck
- Birth Name
- Hans Ronald Mueck
- Born
- 9 May 1958
- Birthplace
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Known for
- Sculptor
- Nationality
- Australia
- Occupation
- actor · sculptor · artist
- Fields
- visual arts · art of sculpture · acting
- Movements
- Young British Artists
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Ronald Hans Mueck (or /ˈmuːɪk/) (born Hans Ronald Mueck; 9 May 1958) is an Australian sculptor working in the United Kingdom.
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Note VALÉORINE
Ron Mueck (born 1958) is an Australian actor, artist and sculptor. The actor was born in Melbourne.
Ron Mueck worked in England and London. The actor is active in acting, art of sculpture and visual arts. Ron Mueck is associated with Young British Artists.
Genres include figurative art. Languages used include English. Works by the actor are held at Museum Voorlinden, National Gallery of Canada and National Gallery of Victoria, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Authority files
gnd · 10063590-8 · wikidata · Q510808 · wikipedia · Ron Mueck
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is visual arts, art of sculpture and acting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are figurative art. Places of work recorded in the authority are London and England. Work by Ron Mueck is recorded in the collections of Tate, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Canada and Museum Voorlinden.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ron Mueck • Birth Name — Hans Ronald Mueck • Born — 9 May 1958 • Birthplace — Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Known for — Sculptor
Biography
Biography
Born in 1958 to German parents in Melbourne, Australia, Ron Mueck grew up in the family business of puppetry and doll-making. He worked initially as a creative director in Australian children's television shows like Shirl's Neighbourhood and Lift Off, before moving to America to work there in film and advertising. Most notably, he designed, performed, and voiced the character of Ludo in the 1986 Jim Henson fantasy film Labyrinth. He later collaborated with Henson again on the TV series The Storyteller. In 1996, he was asked by Paula Rego, his mother-in-law, to make a small figure of Pinocchio for her group exhibition Spellbound: Art and Film, at the Hayward Gallery, London. Mueck first came to public attention with his sculpture "Dead Dad". This portrayal of his recently deceased father—at roughly half-scale and made from memory and imagination—was included in the 1997 exhibition Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Mueck's first solo show was at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London in 1998. His 5 m high sculpture Boy 1999 was a feature in the Millennium Dome, and later exhibited at the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001. Today it sits in the foyer of the Danish Contemporary Art Museum ARoS in Aarhus. Between 2000 and 2002, Mueck was Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London. During this two-year post he created the works Mother and Child, Pregnant Woman, Man in a Boat, and Swaddled Baby and culminated in an exhibition in 2003. Mueck's most recent major touring exhibition began at Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain (Paris), in 2013, and travelled to Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires., MAM, Rio de Janeiro (marking the biggest audience in the history of that museum), and São Paulo, exhibited at the Pinacoteca. During 2016, Mueck exhibited at the Theseus Temple, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland. In 2016 Mueck also received a major solo presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. As part of the Hull UK City of Culture the following year, Mueck's works appeared as part of SKIN, at the Ferens Art Gallery, alongside paintings by Lucian Freud and Édouard Manet, and Spencer Tunick's photographs of his installation Sea of Hull. The exhibition features a new work, Poke, as well as Wild Man, Spooning Couple, Youth, Ghost, and Mask II. In 2024, 15 works were presented in a solo exhibition at Museum Voorlinden. The exhibition featured, among others, En Garde (2023), Mass (2016-2017), Big Baby II (1996-97), Man in Blankets (2000), and Couple under an Umbrella (2013), which is permanently on display as one of the museum’s highlights. In 2025, works including Mass (2016-2017) were presented as a solo exhibition at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea. In 2026, a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, featured 15 works including the new work Havoc: Pregnant Woman (2002), Woman with Shopping (2013), Spooning Couple (2005), Young Couple (2013), Dark Place (2018), Man in Blankets (2000), Ghost (1998/2014), Woman with Sticks (2009-10), Crouching Boy in Mirror (1999-2002), chicken/man (2019), Big Man (2000), Havoc (2025), This Little Piggy (2023-25), Couple Under an Umbrella (2013/2015) and Old Woman in Bed (2000/2002).
Work
Work
Mueck's sculpture responds to the minute details of the human body, playing with scale to produce engrossing visual images (a style known as hyperrealism). Mueck spends a long time, sometimes more than a year, creating each sculpture. His subject matter is deeply private, and is often concerned with people's unspoken thoughts and feelings.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Man in a Boat (2002) • Illustration — chicken/man (2019)
Identity
Identity
Ron Mueck is recorded with the occupation visual artist. Recorded with the occupation film actor. Recorded with the occupation sculptor. Classed in the genre figurative art. Recorded as actor, sculptor and artist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1958
Ron Mueck was born on 1 January 1958.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q510808: Ron Mueck
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Ron Mueck”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 10063590-8, Exhibition Ron Mueck (2003 : Berlin).
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.O'Hagan, Sean. Ron Mueck: From Muppets to motherhood. the Guardian. 6 August 2006.
- 2.Glueck, Grace. Ron Mueck – Art – Review. 10 November 2006.
- 3.Willing, Nick, Paula Rego, Secrets & Stories, Kismet Films for the BBC, 25 March 2017.
- 4.Hurlston, David. Ron Mueck (Exhibition Catalog). Yale University Press in association with National Gallery Victoria. 20. 2011. 978-0-300-17683-4.
- 5.Raine, Craig. Craig Raine on Ron Mueck's sculptures. 11 August 2006.
- 6.Hurlston, David. Ron Mueck (Exhibition Catalog). Yale University Press in association with National Gallery Victoria. 9. 2011. 978-0-300-17683-4.
- 7.Greeves, Susanna. Ron Mueck. National Gallery Company. 23–41. 2003. 1-85709-167-1.
- 8.Ron Mueck – Exhibiciones – Fundación Proa. proa.org.
- 9.Ron Mueck in MAM-Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro
- 10.Ron Mueck supera Picasso e bate recorde de público no MAM. O Globo. 22 May 2014.
- 11.Ron Mueck in Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
- 12.Ron Mueck (February 26–August 13, 2017) The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
- 13.SKIN: Artworks by Tunick, Mueck, Freud and Manet on display at Ferens Art Gallery - Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
- 14.Ron Mueck (29 June - 17 November 2024) Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar.
- 15.Ron Mueck. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
- 16.Ron Mueke: Encounter (6 December 2025 12 April 2026). Art Gallery of New South Wales.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 10063590-8, Exhibition Ron Mueck (2003 : Berlin).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q510808: Ron MueckWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Associated with
1- Young British ArtistsMovement
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Ron Mueck worked in visual arts, art of sculpture and acting. His work is associated with Young British Artists. He worked at London and England. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Career and activity
Within the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Sculpture
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