The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) is hoping that Australian-born artist Ron Mueck's first major solo exhibition in Australia in over a decade will draw record crowds, similar to his recent success in South Korea. The exhibition, titled "Ron Mueck: Encounter," features the artist's trademark hyper-realistic sculptures that explore profound themes of birth, death, intimacy, and isolation.
A small, elderly woman lies curled in a fetal position, wrapped in hospital blankets with wisps of gray hair spread across her pillow. In the soft lighting, her lips slightly parted, she appears to be taking her final breaths. Visitors walking around this tiny figure on its platform in the Grand Courts at AGNSW would swear her eyes open just a little. This powerful sculpture, "Old woman in bed," creates such an intense emotional response that gallery curator Jackie Dunn recalls one visitor being so overwhelmed that she needed to take a coffee break to compose herself before continuing her visit.
The gallery has high hopes that "Encounter" will provide a much-needed boost to visitor numbers, as AGNSW has been trailing behind the National Gallery of Victoria in attendance figures. According to 2024-25 annual reports, the National Gallery of Victoria saw a 20 percent increase in visitors, reaching a record 3.2 million, while the Sydney gallery experienced a 17 percent rise to 2.4 million visitors.
Mueck's sculptures have demonstrated their crowd-drawing potential internationally. A solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul this year broke gallery attendance records. Additionally, exhibitions in Houston, Paris, and Milan over the past decade have all attracted large audiences, suggesting strong global appeal for the artist's work.
The exhibition will showcase both familiar and new works, ranging from playful to powerful pieces. Among the highlights will be newer, darker, and less familiar sculptures, including the aptly titled "Havoc, 2025," which will be displayed for the first time at AGNSW. "Old woman in bed," purchased by the gallery in 2003, has been installed in the Grand Courts as a preview of the main exhibition.
AGNSW director Maud Page expressed optimism about the exhibition's impact, stating, "The gallery is anticipating strong interest in this intensely powerful exhibition. Ron Mueck's sculptures, with their profound reflections on the human condition, have moved audiences worldwide, and I know Encounter will resonate deeply with our visitors here in Sydney too."
The exhibition will be housed in the contemporary gallery Naala Badu, which could certainly benefit from increased visitor traffic. Since opening in 2022, Naala Badu has doubled AGNSW's operating costs to $120 million in 2023-24, but visitor numbers have remained disappointing. In the same period, non-government revenue increased by only $17 million, reaching $85 million. Despite these financial challenges, curator Jackie Dunn praised the venue, describing it as "a beautiful space for Ron's work" with its huge, light-filled rooms that provide an ideal setting for Mueck's sculptures.
