Ronnie van Hout is a bold and playful multimedia artist whose aesthetic reflects an ongoing engagement with the uncanny. Having honed a distinctive style referred to as ‘existential absurdism’, van Hout’s sculptural installations, videos and text works evoke constructed worlds that are simultaneously humorous, unsettling and nostalgic. Throughout his career, the artist has treated his own body as subject and object, using moulds and resin to create various doppelgangers that play with ideas of the self, while avoiding self-portraiture or narcissism. Many of his works explore a fascination with the figure of the ‘outsider’ – aliens, robots, gurus and cult leaders – interrogating the psychology of uneven power relationships while setting up situations in which the audience’s gaze is returned.
van Hout has exhibited regularly since the 1980s and has been the subject of three major survey exhibitions, No one is watching you, Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne (2018); I’ve abandoned me, presented and toured, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2003-2005); and Who goes there, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu (2009). He has been included in a number of major institutional group exhibitions, including The National 4: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2017); and Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria (2013). van Hout’s work is held in all international and national private and public collections, including Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; National Gallery of Aus-tralia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Ton-garewa, Wellington; and Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland.
The National: New Australian Art
2017
installation view
Severed Head
2012
cast polyurethane, fiberglass and acrylic
54.0 x 37.0 x 46.0 cm
Examination Dream
2012
cast polyurethane, fiberglass, clothing, wig and acrylic
50.0 x 8.0 x 8.0 cm
Life Unlived
2012
cast polyurethane, fiberglass, clothing, wig and acrylic
40.0 x 20.0 x 24.0 cm
Endgame
2012
cast polyurethane, fiberglass and acrylic
58.0 x 17.0 x 28.0 cm
Pain is Your Friend
2012
cast polyurethane, fiberglass and acrylic
66.0 x 60.0 x 1.0 cm
STAND UP
2016
Installation view
Being Seen
2011
painted fibreglass, plastic and cast polyurethane
130.0 x 14.0 x 12.0 cm
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
The Floating Planes of Utrecht
2021
installation view
Abduction Scene 1
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
215.0 x 180.0 x 180.0 cm
Abduction Scene 1
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
215.0 x 180.0 x 180.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 1
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
215.0 x 180.0 x 180.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 2
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
225.0 x 160.0 x 100.0 cm
Abduction Scene 2
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
225.0 x 160.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 2
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
225.0 x 160.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 3
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
230.0 x 244.0 x 100.0 cm
Abduction Scene 3
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
230.0 x 244.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 3
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
230.0 x 244.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
Abduction Scene 3
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
230.0 x 244.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
Alien Message 1
2021
acrylic on duck cotton canvas
220.0 x 160.0 cm
Alien Message 2
2021
acrylic on duck cotton canvas
170.0 x 102.0 cm
Alien Painting
2021
acrylic on duck cotton canvas
106.0 x 68.0 cm
Smoking
2021
super 8 film transferred to digital video, sound
3 mins 23 secs
Drinking
2021
super 8 film transferred to digital video, sound
3 mins 17 secs
Eating
2021
super 8 film transferred to digital video, sound
3 mins 17 secs
Waiting
2021
super 8 film transferred to digital video, sound
3 mins 20 secs
Abduction Scene 2
2021
painted rigid polyurethane coated expanded polystyrene, clothing, epoxy resin, glass eyes, wigs, painted timber
25.0 x 160.0 x 100.0 cm (detail)
STAND UP
2016
Installation view
A Loss, Again
2008
painted epoxy/sand on polystyrene, fibre-glass, painted wooden base, found objects (in shed)
350.0 x 270.0 x 150.0 cm
R.U.R.
2008
epoxy on polyurethane on polystyrene
800.0 x 350.0 x 160.0 cm
Morphic Equaliser
2009
installation view
Artspace, Sydney
Timing that Flawed
2009
painted resin (3 pieces)
100.0 x 37.0 x 46.0 cm
crawling figure
2016
painted polyurethane on polystyrene, clothing, wig, cast epoxy resin fibreglass, stainless still plinth
140.0 x 80.0 x 70.0 cm
Compound
2011
cast polyurethane and dirt in seven parts
overall dimensions: 180.0 x 180.0 x 123.0 cm
Quasi
2016
installation view
The National: New Australian Art
2017
installation view
Hold That Thought
2008
Painted wooden cabinets, hinges, mirror, cast objects, epoxy on polystyrene, clothing, wig
dimensions variable
Bananaman
2005
painted resin and plastic
20.0 cm (height)
YOU!
2016
painted polyurethane on polystyrene, clothing, wig, cast epoxy resin fibreglass, MDF, T5 slimline florescent
dimensions variable
Being Seen
2011
painted fibreglass, plastic and cast polyurethane
130.0 x 14.0 x 12.0 cm
Being Seen (detail)
2011
painted fibreglass, plastic and cast polyurethane
130.0 x 14.0 x 12.0 cm
sitting figure II
2016
painted polyurethane on polystyrene, clothing, wig, cast epoxy resin fibreglass, stainless still plinth
109.0 x 90.0 x 110.0 cm
Extra Leg
2014
painted epoxy resin on polystyrene
94.0 x 32.0 x 12.0 cm