An Art Weekend in Melbourne - Ron Mueck and the new Art Series Hotels

Our friend and associate Liz Fraser recently enjoyed a weekend of art in Melbourne - highlights were visiting the Ron Mueck hyper-realist exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria and staying at one of the new Art Series Hotels - The Cullen in Prahran, based around the artwork of the infamous contemporary Australian artist Adam Cullen. Click on the read more link to see her full review and more photos....

Mask ii, 2000 , Ron Mueck

Our room at The Cullen, Melbourne

Ron Mueck – disconcerting hyper-realism

Queensland Art Gallery: May- August 2010
Christchurch Art Gallery: October – January 2011

Two Women, 2005, Ron Mueck.

While staying in Melbourne we couldn’t avoid the hype surrounding the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. The work of Ron Mueck, an Australian born, London based sculptor, is touted as astoundingly lifelike and disturbing contemporary sculpture of human figures. Included in this collection of 13 sculptures, the first of Ron Mueck to be shown in the Southern Hemisphere, is his iconic Dead Dad, 1997 which first came to attention in Charles Saatchi’s 'Sensations' show.

Our visit to this exhibition confirmed the hype - it is extremely powerful work. The technical expertise in creating such fine, perfect detail is extraordinary, but it is how Mueck plays with scale – gigantic or small, that makes this exhibition so emotionally jarring and moving. Some of the sculptures are monumental in scale and their effect is a powerful sense of awe and shock, while others are 'smaller-than-life' with less immediate impact, but prove to be equally disturbing in conjuring the frailty and vulnerability of age. A personal favourite was A Girl, a giant sized sculpture of a newborn baby girl – profoundly moving but almost shocking in its lifelike detail. The bloody smears, the umbilical cord, the tiny(but huge) fingernails, the squashed new-born features were surprisingly emotionally moving. On a completely different scale but equally profound, was the tiny and frail Old Woman in Bed - a touching look at our own mortality.

Next time, I’d take the kids – it’s the sort of art where nobody could possibly get bored, and everybody, even the most uninterested in art,  leaves feeling gob-smacked and talks about it for days! Worth looking out for when it comes to the Christchurch Art Gallery later this year.

http://www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz/Exhibitions/2010/RonMueck/

Old Woman in Bed,  2002, Ron Mueck

A Girl, 2006, Ron Mueck

Art Series Hotels, Melbourne -‘ art inspired luxury’

While in Melbourne we stayed at The Cullen, the first of three luxury boutique hotels in the Art Series Hotel Group in Melbourne, inspired and designed around the artwork of prominent contemporary Australian artists.

The Cullen, features original artwork and prints throughout the hotel and rooms from the vibrant and energetic work of Adam Cullen, ‘enfant terrible’ of the Australian art scene. A great location ( 100m from boutique shopping mecca Chapel St and just over the road from the glorious Prahran Food Market) combined with excellent design and luxury made this a very pleasant stay. The vibrant artwork, plus extra little artistic touches, such as the pile of quality art books to browse through in each room added to the unique art-inspired experience.

The other two Art Series Hotels will be opening in Melbourne this year – The Olsen has just opened on Chapel St and The Blackman on St Kilda Rd opens in August and look to be equally interesting for the art loving traveller.

http://www.artserieshotels.com.au/