“Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 – January 6, 1996) was an American artist based in South Florida, a sculptor known for his life cast realistic works of people, cast in various materials, including polyester resin, fiberglass, Bondo and bronze. His work is often associated with the Pop Art movement, as well as hyperrealism.”
“Cast from actual people, were made of fiberglass (polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass,) painted to make the revealed skin look realistic with veins and blemishes. Hanson then clothed the figures with garments from second-hand clothing stores and theatrically arranged the action. Clearly these works contained strong social comment and can be seen as modern parallels to the concerns of 19th-century French Realists such as Honore Daumier and Jean Francois Millet, artists Hanson admired.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Hanson
Going from my last post yesterday, which was a purely abstract version of “The Guggenheim Museum” with a tribute to the creator of this fabulous example of modern architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, to the artist Duane Hanson who is at the opposite end of the spectrum in regard to Wrights abstracted architectural forms. Hanson’s work is called “sculptural hyperrealism,” that is, his three-dimensional figurative sculpture are sometimes, so convincing as to their depiction of “real” people, that they are regularly mistaken for real human beings. I had the fun of seeing his figurative work at the Museum of Modern Art, (MoMA) in NYC a number of years ago. The sculptures were so believable that many of the viewers could not tell the sculptures from other gallery goers. Not only that, some spectators became part of the display, by freezing their own motion and holding themselves in place like the Hanson sculptures. It was very strange to observe the reality of human beings exchanging places with hyper-real pseudo human beings. Many people in this gallery were surprised and delighted at the ambiguity of this reality exchange phenomenon. This was a unique gallery experience for me and I smile just thinking about it. Here are some shots of Hanson’s works. BTW his sculptures are outfitted in real clothing and accessories.

http://img.artknowledgenews.com/files2007/DuaneHansonOldCoupleOnABenc.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8IUsyoeCzRs/SgdassVDplI/AAAAAAAADRU/yMjqqLtxt_c/s400/duane+hanson+1.jpg

http://www.tfaoi.com/cm/4cm/4cm234.jpg

http://hannarabi.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tourists.jpg

http://images.artnet.com/WebServices/picture.aspx?date=20070517&catalog=117735&gallery=110889&lot=00193&filetype=2

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CrCHjP5U0Oo/S-KCGzK7jZI/AAAAAAAAAN0/PMTkssn6O7c/s1600/hanson0.png