Rachel Whiteread
I find
Whiteread’s work very touching often looking at the forgotten empty space
around familiar objects. I was entranced from the opening exhibit in the large
Duveen Gallery, “Untitled (100 spaces)”, casts of the space under chair cast in
coloured resins which looked like huge jelly sweets.
The exhibition
space had been opened up into one large space so that you could see the larger
objects from across the room however it also managed to flow and give a
narrative to the work. It was brave to display largely white objects in a white
room but it worked well.
My favourite
piece was the large cast of library shelves which had been made in preparation
for her Holocaust memorial in Vienna. It was a touching work where the shelves
were the spaces and the shadow of the books were left. I loved a section where
the books had had cut out markers on the pages which were reflected in the
cast.
I also liked the
section on the old synagogue she bought in East London which she made into her
home and studio but in the process also made casts of the interior including a
large cast of the staircase. I like the idea the staircase represented the
comings and goings of everyday life as well as the waves of immigration into
that area of London.
Closes on 21
January 2017.
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