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Lot Essay
Two figures charge towards each other, weapons held back in preparation for confrontation. Between them lies a mirror which presents them with a target that is their inverted self; and yet, on the other side of the mirror, the target does appear to be identical, an inverted self, the fact that both figures are right-handed the only truly discernible difference. Looking Backwards, executed in 1999, perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of the uncanny that permeates the works of Juan Muñoz. There is a narrative feel to this piece, yet it is also riddle-like, a strange and impossible configuration that absorbs the viewer's attention. For this is a sculpture that is about communication, about its fallibility, as demonstrated in the reckless and destructive momentum of the two figures charging towards their reflections. Violence-- and ultimately violence against oneself-- appears to be the inevitable result of this imminent theatrical confrontation. And this is made all the more apparent through the ironic title.
It was in part to highlight limitations within the human condition that Muñoz introduced the figure into his sculpture, making him part of a new wave of narrative figuration that emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s. His figures tend not to be specific people, but are instead an assortment of dwarves, Weeble-like ballerinas, identical Chinese men and other almost anonymous characters, often juxtaposed in order to bring to the viewer's awareness an understanding of the limitations of communication. Here, the small figures with their clothes made out of genuine textiles have one foot clearly planted in reality, and the other planted in the faceless world of fragmented allegory so unique to Muñoz.
The impossibility of communication within Looking Backwards also brings our attention to the impossibility of communication between the artist and the viewer, highlighting the unbreachable gap between the sculpture and its interpretation. 'My characters sometimes behave as a mirror that cannot reflect,' Muñoz explained. 'They are there to tell you something about your looking, but they cannot, because they don't let you see yourself' (Muñoz, quoted in P. Schimmel, 'An Interview with Juan Muñoz', pp. 145-50 in N. Benezra et al., Juan Muñoz, exh. cat., Washington D.C. & Chicago 2001, p. 150).
It was in part to highlight limitations within the human condition that Muñoz introduced the figure into his sculpture, making him part of a new wave of narrative figuration that emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s. His figures tend not to be specific people, but are instead an assortment of dwarves, Weeble-like ballerinas, identical Chinese men and other almost anonymous characters, often juxtaposed in order to bring to the viewer's awareness an understanding of the limitations of communication. Here, the small figures with their clothes made out of genuine textiles have one foot clearly planted in reality, and the other planted in the faceless world of fragmented allegory so unique to Muñoz.
The impossibility of communication within Looking Backwards also brings our attention to the impossibility of communication between the artist and the viewer, highlighting the unbreachable gap between the sculpture and its interpretation. 'My characters sometimes behave as a mirror that cannot reflect,' Muñoz explained. 'They are there to tell you something about your looking, but they cannot, because they don't let you see yourself' (Muñoz, quoted in P. Schimmel, 'An Interview with Juan Muñoz', pp. 145-50 in N. Benezra et al., Juan Muñoz, exh. cat., Washington D.C. & Chicago 2001, p. 150).