When Rachel Whiteread exhibits her work it isn’t just about what’s there, it’s also about what’s not. It is her careful consideration of negative space that is her signature, and a motif that continues in her latest exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in Geneva.
One of the UK’s leading contemporary sculptors and Turner prize winner, Whiteread’s subject matter is in many ways a little mundane, pulled from the everyday. Herein however, lies its impact, as Whiteread herself is acutely aware, saying, “The reason my work has affected people over the years is because it draws people’s attention to their lives and the things in their lives.”
Rachel Whiteread, Box (2013) in Bronze
This exhibition focuses on a series of recent sculptures cast in resin, from doors and windows in ethereal shades of eau-de-nil or steely grey, and a selection of layered collages incorporating cardboard, celluloid and silver leaf. Again, space plays its part with changing light and shadow adding a further dimension, and in echoing former works the exhibition becomes an extension of the ongoing dialogue that is Whiteread’s thought-provoking theme.
by Bonnie Friend
The show opens on January 28 until March 22, 2014 at Gagosian Gallery, Geneva