Duane Hanson: More Than Reality

Duane Hanson: More Than Reality

Wrinkles, facial hair, varicose veins, and fingernail dirt are hardly the bodily stuff of your average figurative sculpture, be it a Praxiteles or a Rodin. But Duane Hanson was never after the ideal figure, merely the familiar one, one so recognizable it is often mistaken for the flesh-and-blood waitress, house painter or cop it so vividly, eerily depicts in polyester resin. Clothed in the most exacting of detail, down to their hidden underpants, Hanson's sculptures compell an endless, prying looking into the folds and moods of his subjects. More Than Reality, the first catalogue raisonne of his sculptures, reveals that Hanson's objective was never blatant voyeurism but the opening of a view onto those things we prefer to overlook: the drabness of everyday life, the dullness of common states of mind, the inevitability of mortality.From Library JournalThese two new exhibition catalogs bring to print the captivating work of great American realist Hanson, now acknowledged as one of the 20th century's preeminent sculptors. Hanson specialized in static, life-size portraits cast from live models in polyester resin and fiberglass. Many of them possess a sadness or resignation indicative of the despair that lurks beneath the apparent calmness of everyday life. These tumescent, hyperreal human figures haunt any viewer who encounters them in person, often fooling onlookers into thinking that the figures are actually alive. In fact, art lovers who have experienced the verisimilitude of Hanson's sculptures in the round may find that photographs reduce their impact somewhat and make them appear more mannequin-like than human. As a consequence, More Than Reality, which opens with several two-page spreads, is the more effective of these two books. In addition, Buchsteiner and Letze slip in four essays about the artist and his work, including a short piece that compares Hanson with German expressionist painter Otto Dix. Virtual Reality represents a smaller show that toured West Coast museums last year and provides a good view of a more modest slice of Hanson's oeuvre. As the only two publications available on this influential artist, either title can be highly recommended for all collections. Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., CACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.About the AuthorBorn in the dairy country of Minnesota in 1925, Duane Hanson is known the world over for his life-sized fiberglass and polyester resin sculptures. His call to art came early, when he carved a realistic wooden replica of Thomas Gainsborough's "The Blue Boy". In 1965 he moved to Florida, where he lived until his death in 1996.