Permanent Collection
Ron MUECK
Mueck’s elderly lady is recreated with vivid verisimilitude, from her wrinkled and sagging skin, to her translucent veins and individual strands of hair. The stark contrast of her unrealistic scale, at over four meters, only serves to highlight the oddness of her presence. The Australian artist is known for sculptures capturing glimpses of universal human vulnerability, often in the form of aging or loneliness. Facial expressions that seem at once stern and kind, depending on the angle, and quiet, contemplative poses, in which the figures seem to stare into thin air, encourage the viewer to empathize and imagine.
Photo: Oyamada Kuniya
Courtesy Anthony d’Offay, London
Ron MUECK
Born 1958 in Melbourne, Australia; lives and works in London, UK. After working in children’s television, motion picture special effects and advertising for many years, Mueck attracted a great deal of attention for his tiny and uncanny realistic sculpture Dead Dad, which he made to come to terms with his father’s death. He has had solo exhibitions at the National Gallery (London, 2003) and Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris, France, 2013), among many others, and his works are in the collections of numerous museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (US) and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (US).
2007
Mixed media
155×110×405 cm
Towada Art Center Permanent Collection Special Event
Special Talk by Charlie Clarke: Ron Mueck , Standing Woman Thursday, April 30 ,2026
On Friday, September 11, 2026, Towada City and the Towada Art Center officially welcomed Standing Woman as a special resident of Towada City.
Commemorative Special Resident Registration Certificates are now available at the Towada City Tourism Division.
Message from the Director
We are truly delighted to welcome Ron Mueck’s Standing Woman as a special resident of Towada City.
Since the museum opened in 2008, Standing Woman has stood in Towada for 18 years, cherished by citizens and visitors alike. As the only permanent installation by Mueck in Japan, she has become a true symbol of our museum.
Upon entering her space, visitors are first awed by her presence, standing over four meters tall. Moving closer, they are astonished once more by the hyper-realistic detail—the subtle folds and sags of her skin, the faint outline of her veins, and individual strands of hair. While she appears to capture a passing, mundane moment of an elderly woman, looking at her from different angles and distances sparks our imagination: Which era or country does she belong to? Where is she looking, and what is she thinking?
Mueck turns his lens toward everyday scenes of anonymous people navigating life’s various anxieties, bringing them to life through sculptures of unexpected scale. In doing so, he reminds us of the shared human vulnerability and impermanence, as well as the irreplaceable preciousness of life.
Standing Woman similarly invites us to feel the preciousness and tender beauty of existence and the world around us. Having become so familiar to the people of Towada, this woman serves as a presence that gently walks alongside each person who encounters her.
The Towada Art Center will be closed throughout the next fiscal year for renovations, leading up to the major milestone of our 20th anniversary in Fiscal Year 2028.
I am fully confident that Standing Woman will continue to walk hand in hand with the museum and Towada City for many years to come, leading the way for Towada’s art and culture.
September 11, 2026
On the occasion of the Special Residency Certificate Presentation Ceremony
Yukiko Shikata
Director, Towada Art Center
Message from Ron MUECK
Arriving in 2008,Standing Woman has watched quietly as visitors come and go through the rooms of Towada Art Center.
Over almost 20 years she has become part of the fabric of the building.
Granting Standing Woman honorary citizenship of the City of Towada now truly makes Towada her home.
She belongs.
It is a great honour.
Yours sincerely, with grateful appreciation,
Ron Mueck
How to get the "Special Resident Certificate"
The certificate of “Standing Woman” is available for free at the Tourism Division of Towada City Hall Main Building 2F.
Please request the issuance of the certificate of “Standing Woman as the special resident of Towada City” at the counter.
Size: 7.2 cm (H) × 10 cm (W)
Towada City Tourism Division (Map)
Address: 2F, Towada City Hall, 6-1 Nishi-junibancho, Towada City, Aomori Prefecture
(approx. 5-minute walk from the museum)
Phone: 0176-51-6771
Hours: 8:30 AM – 5:15 PM
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and Year-End/New Year holidays (December 29 – January 3)
Please note that certificates cannot be picked up on non-business days.
