A colossal trio of black dogs, standing almost three metres tall with ears pricked and hackles raised, reveals Ron Mueck’s latest sculptural developments. Conceived as a single edition for his third solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, Paris (2023), which then travelled to Triennale Milano and Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands (2023-24), En Garde (2023) now makes its UK debut at Thaddaeus Ropac, London. The work marks a decisive shift in the internationally acclaimed artist's practice. Paring back meticulous surface detail in favour of pure sculptural form, poise and tension, Mueck confronts the viewer with an immediate and powerful encounter.
The work’s title - a command used in fencing that calls players to adopt a defensive stance - not only describes the dogs’ alert and menacing poses but also serves as a warning to the viewer. It invites us to consider our own readiness to participate in the sculpture’s choreography. Although packs of dogs have been a recurring interest for Mueck for many years – clay and wax models have long populated his studio – En Garde marks the first time this subject has been brought to fruition on a monumental scale.
En Garde, 2023
Mixed Media
285 x 480 x 530 cm (112.2 x 188.98 x 208.66 in)
As we move vigilantly around the room, approaching closer than might ordinarily feel safe, we become immersed in the changing landscape of the dogs’ bodies: the daring monochrome silhouettes
and smooth, flexing musculature. Mueck suspends us in the present, where an instant is drawn out for longer contemplation. As art historian Robert Rosenblum explains, his sculptures ‘are from scenarios that have no beginnings or ends but only uncertain middles’.
With its brooding, tripartite presence and blanked-out eyes, En Garde may recall Classical sculpture and depictions of Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed watchdog of the underworld in ancient Greek mythology. Mueck’s dogs also speak to the present day. Strangely familiar, perhaps they embody characteristics of people we have encountered, resemble antagonistic world leaders or conjure broader notions of pack mentality. And yet, as is typical for the artist, Mueck never insists on any prescribed narrative.
Watch 'Three Dogs, a Pig, and a Crow' by Gautier Deblonde
