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When I reviewed Ron Mueck's exhibition at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art in January 2003 I wondered, 'Is Mueck Australia's greatest living artist? Or is he simply a fine model maker who can pull in the crowds, make them gasp with astonishment, but leave the cognoscenti wondering “Is it art?”' 

Four years, and many more jaw-dropping sculptures later - not to mention a clutch of international exhibitions, catalogues, and books - and the answer to both of the above questions is a qualified 'yes'.

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Seen in photographic reproduction, set against architectural details and crowds of spectators, these sculptures move our imaginations to another level. I am thinking particularly of the cover shot of the September 2001 edition of Artforum magazine. Mueck's 5 m high sculpture Boy crouches in a serpentine position that sees his hands almost touching the roof of the Venice Biennale's Corderie and groups of visitors - shrunk by association to Lilliputians - circling in awe around his massive bulk. As in similar works - such as Ghost, 1998, his gangly adolescent female - a single item of clothing heightens the near-nakedness of the figure.

Many people have photographed Mueck's work, from fine art professionals to tabloid lens-men and tourists with camera-phones. None have done it better than Patrick Gries, whose work turns the Fondation Cartier catalogue (which accompanied a travelling exhibition most recently seen in Ottawa) into something magical.  Most strikingly captured is Wild man, 2005, where Mueck's giant with long hair and a huge bushy, brown beard sits naked on a wooden stool. Two gallery visitors, one in blurred motion, are photographed behind him, while beyond them tubular metal girders and plate-glass windows frame a parkland setting of verdant, green grass and trees freckled with sunshine. The giant is frowning, and looking downwards in deep anxiety as if the word 'askance' had been coined especially for this moment. He looks exactly like the cartoon image of an elephant terrified by a nearby mouse. His hands clutch the edges of the seat and his body, in its tension, leans somewhat off the vertical. This is one of Mueck's finest sculptures.

 
This article appears in excerpted form. You can read the entire article in Art & Australia's Summer 2007 issue.