Culture | The unreal deal

Hyperreal art is Instagram-worthy and booming

But is it any good? People cannot decide

Ron Mueck at the Foundation Cartier, Paris. — Out of the cradleImage: Alamy

Sep 28th 2023|Paris

A woman raises her hands like claws, laughs a little, bares her teeth and pretends to growl. She is having her photo taken in front of a pack of three-metre-tall black dogs made by Ron Mueck, an Australian artist whose sculptures are on display in Paris at the Fondation Cartier until November 5th. Awestruck whispers echo through another gallery as visitors snap photographs of a five-metre-long baby smeared with blood. It lies on the ground, face contorted in a newborn’s grimace.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The unreal deal”