Rachel Whiteread

Born in 1963 in Ilford, London, Rachel Whiteread is a British artist, printmaker, sculptor and designer. Studying painting at Brighton Polytechnic between 1982 and 1985, she later went on to study sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London between 1985 and 1987. She began to exhibit her works from 1988 at the Carlisle Gallery in London. During this exhibition, she presents the work “Closet”. The latter is a reproduction of a clothes closet interior, the structure of the work is in plaster and is covered with wood and felt. It is during the year 1990 that the artist is noticed by integrating the group of "Young British Artists". The latter was created at the end of the 1980s and designates a group of contemporary British artists. The term "Young British Artists" comes from a series of several exhibitions bearing the same name and having taken place at the Saatchi gallery from 1992. This group became known in 1990 thanks to the use of unusual materials. From then on, the materials and the use of different processes in artistic creation multiply, and this is how Rachel Whiteread's art was born. The artist represents the void and the full in his work. To create his works, the artist is inspired by the Italian architect and creator of the magazine Spazio. Rassegna delle arti e dell'architettura Luigi Moretti (1907 - 1973). The latter asserted that "the empty space of architectural interiors is exactly opposed to the formal and intellectual aspects of the material". To create her works, she uses molds to fill empty spaces in everyday objects, including monuments and homes. She reversed the roles, the full becomes empty while the empty becomes full. She thus illustrates memory and absence by playing with space and the spectator's sensory perception. Rachel Whiteread's works come in various sizes. She uses different materials such as plaster, concrete, rubber, or even resin. The works "House" (1993), "The Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial" (2000), or even "Water Tower" (1998) are among his most emblematic works. The artist creates the visible in the invisible, thus giving materiality to what is invisible. In 1993, at the age of only 30, she was the first woman to receive the Turner Prize, awarded by Tate Britain, for her work "House". Along with 27 other artists, the artist is participating, in 2019, in the exhibition “Notre Dame, prayer to create” organized by the Larry Gagosian gallery in Paris.