B.

Although we occasionally get indignant, we all enjoy being deceived by art – well at least, we enjoy the conscious experience of the 'illusion' in the trompe l'oeil piece. And most of us like to surreptitiously 'people-watch'. These fascinations bring large crowds to see Duane Hanson's Real People. Seventeen amazingly realistic life-size sculptures of ordinary American citizens are touring New Zealand in this exhibition sponsored by the N.Z.I. Corporation.

Hanson, who was born in Minnesota in 1925, was impressed as a young artist by the polyester and fibreglass figures of the German sculptor George Gryko whose works he saw in Germany in 1959. Following Hanson's return to America in 1961, he began to make his own polyvinyl/acetate figures taking his subjects from contemporary American society. His subjects were taken from everyday life – the middle-aged jogger whose feet were feeling the strain of pounding the asphalt, the garishly clothed tourists taking in the sights abroad and the overweight shopper with the loaded supermarket trolley. These he depicted with a remarkable veracity which comes form the fact they are cast from living models, dressed in real clothes and equipped with real accessories. It takes Hanson 2-4 months to create each figure, painstakingly reproducing the skin tones and hair texture and finding exactly the right costume and stance.

But Hanson's degree of realism has also provoked considerable comment and controversy. Some, like the critic in Time Magazine, say Hanson's sculptures are "the most grossly truthful pieces of social observation in American art". Others question the technique of using life casts and ask "is this art or is it merely a mechanical reproduction of life?" In the late 1960s and early 70s when he exhibited the Bowery Derelicts, Accident and War' Hanson's critics said he was "riding on the back of sensationalism"

Whether his technique is too closely based on reality to be truly called art is an issue our Gallery visitors will need to consider for themselves. Whichever way they make their decision, they will not fail to be fascinated by the realism.

Hanson depicts people who are bored, fatigued or stressed to exhaustion by modern life. "My sculptures" he says "are about the imperfections of life, the burdens that we all bear". He shows older people whose faces and bodies reflect the complications of their lives. He deals with "people who lead lives of quiet desperation. I show the empty-headedness, the fatigue, the ageing, the frustration" he says. Within each study there is also a strong element of sympathy, understanding and compassion.

Not all his subjects however are depressed or dejected. Hanson also uses the youthful figures of his daughters and the family beagle.

This type of work he says 'takes sculpture off its pedestal'. He says his works are popular because people love to look critically at others but feel guilty about doing it. "With my figures" he says, "they can go up to them, stare at the wrinkles, the hair, the skin tones – something they wouldn't do normally. People are fascinated by how other people look and they seem to approach my figures as people they know". We too, have the chance to get to know Duane Hanson's Real People during their six weeks in Christchurch.

('Real People: Life Like Sculptures by Duane Hanson', Bulletin, No.61, January/February 1989, pp.1-2)