Finally, at the heart of the exhibition, the overwhelming “Mass” (2016-2017) spreads across the gallery space of 300 square meters. One hundred hand-finished head sculptures made of fiberglass, polyester resin, and synthetic paint are arranged on gigantic piles, typically customized to the venue’s spatial dimensions. Each skull exceeds the human scale substantially, allowing viewers to inspect the pieces intently as massive boulders.

Ron Mueck, Mass, 2016-2017, Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 2018, Installation view: Ron Mueck, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2026 Photo: Masaya Yoshimura, Photo courtesy: Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

The work is presented as a collective mass, although the varied color tones and bone details also insinuate a group of individuals. They confront mortality and the transience of life’s existence on earth. For Mueck, the human skull evokes beauty and remarkable significance. He stated, “The human skull is a complex object. A potent, graphic icon we recognize immediately. At once familiar and exotic, it repels and attracts simultaneously. It is impossible to ignore, demanding our attention at a subconscious level.” (“Ron Mueck,” exhibition catalogue)

High-definition video by Gautier Deblonde, Chicken / Man, 2019-2025

Two films and photographs by French photographer and filmmaker Gautier Deblonde take visitors inside Mueck’s personal studios in London and Ventnor, England. Filled with models, drawings, tools, and paint, they describe the artist’s work process and environment. The videos, “Still Life: Ron Mueck at Work” (2013) and “Chicken/Man” (2019-2025), accurately grasp Mueck sculpting, molding, casting, and enhancing surfaces, as well as pausing for a break with a crow.

At the end of the exhibition, we are showered with awe and fascination at Mueck’s extraordinary talent and lifelike interpretation of both the human anatomy and emotion. We leave with a stirring impression, mixed with feelings of disconcertment, vulnerability, and reconciliation as we ponder on the intrinsic core of the human spirit.

Ron Mueck
Date: April 29th – September 23rd, 2026
Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00 (Tuesdays till 17:00 except for August 11th and September 22nd)
Place: Mori Art Museum
Address: 53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: +81 (0)47 316 2772 (Hello Dial, from overseas)
https://www.mori.art.museum