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RACHEL WHITEREAD EXHIBTION

"One of Britain’s leading contemporary artists, Whiteread uses industrial materials such as plaster, concrete, resin, rubber and metal to cast everyday objects and architectural space. Her evocative sculptures range from the intimate to the monumental.
Born in London in 1963, Whiteread was the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993. The same year she made House 1993–1994, a life-sized cast of the interior of a condemned terraced house in London’s East End, which existed for a few months before it was controversially demolished.
This momentous show tracks Whiteread’s career and brings together well-known works such as Untitled (100 Spaces) 1995 and Untitled (Staircase) 2001 alongside new pieces that have never been previously exhibited" (taken from Tate Britiain)

The exhibition showing works from Whitereads expansive career as an artist was truely memorable. As an artist interested in the process of casting objects and the negative space surrounding it was a remarkable experience to witness works in which use these processes on an enormous scale. Th sheer presence and scale of the concrete sculptures creates such an atmosphere and holds the viewer in awe. There is a splendid quietude to there early works . People still go on tiptoe to peer into the kitchen sink as though something might be stiring in there. closet - the cast of a wardrobe covered in black felt  - still makes the childhood fear of such interior darkness both visable and solid. Cell, the cast of a grate and the space behind it, goes to the quick of ones curiosity about the secret world behind the fireplace. And the towering white plaster "Untitled (stairs)" from 2001 zooms up and down to nowhere, with overtones of Piranest and Escher, like the flights of steps in trapped dreams.

Aside from the sculptural works displayed there were fragments of collage and sketches which leads me to think of the thought processes behind the final destination. These small yet immensely important images were the highlight of the show for me as it is a scarce rarity to have that all important insight which can be forgotten when appreciating ones art works.

 Image result for rachel whiteread at tate britain
Image result for rachel whiteread at tate britain

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