Ron Mueck’s En Garde (2023) will be exhibited for the first time in the UK at Thaddaeus Ropac, London. The work was conceived as a unique edition for his third solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, Paris (2023), and then exhibited at Triennale Milano and Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands (2023–24). Thaddaeus Ropac will present the single artist’s proof of this formidable work, which offers insight into the internationally acclaimed sculptor’s latest innovations. A colossal trio of black dogs, standing almost three metres tall with ears pricked and hackles raised, demonstrates Mueck’s shifting focus from meticulous surface detail to poise and tension; as he distils his vision to confront the viewer with the immediacy and essence of an encounter which, in typical Mueck style, leaves the audience free from prescribed narrative.
The title, En Garde, referring to the command that calls a fencer to adopt a defensive stance and prepare for attack, not only describes the dogs’ alert and menacing stances, but also serves as a warning to the viewer: a call to arms that invites them to consider their own participation in the sculpture’s choreography. From the moment of entering the room, the viewer themselves becomes a protagonist as the whole space is charged with tension.
The paring back of surface detail in favour of a concentration on form and the orchestration of postures allows the tangibility of that initial encounter to remain palpable as the viewer moves closer, and around, to explore the changing landscape of the dogs’ bodies and their forest of legs.
Over a career spanning three decades, Mueck is celebrated for exploring the physiological implications of scale. Whether miniaturised or enlarged, his use of scale heightens our awareness of the relative spaces our own bodies occupy, as he charts the full spectrum of human experience with striking perceptiveness. In En Garde, the huge scale of the dogs intensifies their threatening presence and emphasises our own vulnerability, while at the same time allowing us ultimately to approach far closer than would otherwise feel safe. After working on small maquettes to clarify pose and character, Mueck makes full-size drawings on his studio wall to establish scale before the final work is created.
| Duration | 14 February 2025 - 02 April 2025 |
| Times | Tuesday—Saturday, 10am—6pm |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac |
| Address | Ely House, 37 Dover Street, London, W1S 4NJ |
| Contact | 4402038138400 / polly.gaer@ropac.net / www.ropac.net |