artist profile
Rachel Whiteread
born
1963
lives and works
London, UK
education
Brighton Polytechnic, Brighton, UK, 1985
Brighton Cyprus College of Art, Larnaca, UK
Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK, 1987
about the artist
Rachel Whiteread casts objects in metal, resin, plaster, wood, concrete, and other industrial plastics in order to record negative space and commemorate existence. Within, beneath, around, above, adjacent—Whiteread gives voices to domestic architecture and the elements that reside within, conjuring up unspoken memories and residual shadows. Apart from constructing such sculptures that range from intimate to monumental, the artist has also produced a panoply of drawings, all of which tie in with and are building blocks of her three-dimensional practice. The very first female winner of the Turner Prize in 1993 and representing the United Kingdom in the 47th and 51st Venice Biennales, Whiteread has mounted solo exhibitions all over the world: in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and France. She has participated in group shows held at sites that include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France; the Kunstmuseum Bonn in Germany; the Tate Britain in London, UK; the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland; the Museum of Modern Art in Oslo, Norway; the Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA; the Guggenheim Museum in New York, USA; and the Museum Ludwig in Budapest, Hungary.