Duane Hanson
Sunday, 3 May 2009
I have been to many wax museums as part of school field trips. Never once was I particularly impressed with the wax figures of Hitler, General Mao, Gandhi, Mother Theresa and all the others. Sure, they bore a striking resemblance to the actual subject, but they were, nevertheless, obviously mannequins, albeit wrought of wax. Of course, there were exceptions, but the overwhelming majority were quite underwhelming.
Not Duane Hanson’s work though:
“Duane Hanson took sculpture off its pedestal and removed the boundaries that separated art from life. His intention was to represent a cross-section of American society by focusing on the singularities of individuals. In addition to their lifelike exteriors, his works communicate the internal attitudes and experiences of Hanson’s subjects. It is this combination of the physical and psychological that elicits a broad range of emotional responses from the spectator.” (USA Today)
“Using synthetic resins, he made a mold from the body and used it to cast a three-dimensional sculpture. Each figure was cast in several sections before being joined together. Hanson then painted the surface in careful detail and added the necessary accessories and props. The final works [therefore]… do not represent actual people in actual environments, but realistic fictions.” The whole process often took as long as a year for a single figure.
No. 1 — May 5th, 2009 at 1:10 am
stumbled across your blog and was amazed at this post!
such talent to make something so dead become so alive!
No. 2 — March 12th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
OMG i was learning this in class, and right now im in the studying of art. these sculptures look too real! its the best out of all the sculptures if you were grading sculptures by their “real”ty.