Rachel Kneebone: Raft

Beautiful exhibition at White Cube Mason’s Yard of new work by Rachel Kneebone.

I have seen Kneebone’s work before most notably a column in the Renaissance sculpture gallery at the V&A. Her work consists of white porcelain apparent fragments collected together into large sculptures. In this show some of these hung from the ceiling and gently swayed in the air.

For this collection she had taken inspiration from Géricult’s “The Raft of the Medusa” invoking contemporary themes of migration, displaced persons and hope in the face of despair.

I love the way you start to see something within a piece that then seems to dissolve as you look at it more. A new addition to these works was the inclusion of a single smooth orb in each work. It was lovely to see them presented with some of her drawings and to read that the wonderful dark blue colour of the gallery was chosen by her to give the idea of sinking into or emerging from the seabed.

Closes 4 November 2021

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