Duane Hanson at Van de Weghe fine art

In retrospect, it was a fairly stupid question, walking into that Chelsea gallery that was showing hyper-realist sculptures (yes, I was thinking Ron Mueck too) and asking the hyper-made up lady there 'Is the show on today or is the gallery closed'? She gave me a look as one would give a cretin who had just crawled in from under the door and went back to looking at her sleek apple computer that seems to be a necessary fixture in galleries and disdainfully ordered 'Look around'. I quietly crept back into my shell and meekly walked around stupefied at the hyperrealism on display here. Duane Hanson's sculptures made of autobody filler and other mixed media seems so real that it is unnerving to stand there looking at the sculptures half thinking that the sculpture might step out and ask "And what is it that makes you want to stare at me so hard, you pervert, you?"

Most of these works executed between 1973 and 1990 were and are classics. Mundane people doing their mundane jobs, so often overlooked for doormats in normal life now in this gallery being stared at and studied with attention by people wondering “Just how did the *&%# did I miss all this expression in ordinary people...?”

Queenie II, 1988, Autobody filler, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, 72” X 40” X 50”

Detail of above

Security Guard, 1990, Autobody filler, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, 72” X 40” X 20”

Self Portrait with model, 1979, Polyvinyl, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, 48” X 75” X 40”

Flea Market Lady, 1990, Autobody filler, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, 50” X 120” X 48”

Old man playing Solitaire, 1973, Polyester resin and fiberglass, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, 50” X 35” X 55”

Delivery Man, 1980, Polyvinyl, polychromed in oil, mixed media with accessories, Lifesize