Rachel Whiteread DBE

Talk Art exclusive! Russell & Robert meet legendary British artist Dame Rachel Whiteread DBE for an intimate studio visit where we view her new works prior to installing her new exhibition ‘Internal Objects’. In Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures and drawings, everyday settings, objects, and surfaces are transformed into ghostly replicas that are eerily familiar. Through casting, she frees her subject matter—from beds, tables, and boxes to water towers and entire houses—from practical use, suggesting a new permanence, imbued with memory.  

We discuss childhood, experimenting with numerous materials as a student, the joy of sharpening pencils, studying with Richard Wilson, her now iconic artworks 'House' (1993) and 'Ghost' (1990), further early works made by casting a wardrobe and household furniture and her large permanent Holocaust Memorial (2000) in Vienna's Judenplatz. We learn about her ‘Shy Sculpture‘ series installed in unexpected international locations and hear of her experiences during the YBA years, and subsequently being the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993.

We explore the new works made during lockdown including two large cabin-like structures 'Poltergeist' (2020) and 'Döppelganger' (2020–21) which now form the central part of a new exhibition at Gagosian’s Grosvenor Hill gallery, made of found wood and metal, meticulously overpainted in white household paint. The exhibition also features a new body of sculptures in resin and new works on paper, as well as recent cast sculptures in bronze, similar to works in bronze Whiteread made in 2000–10, and exhibited at a major retrospective at Tate Britain in 2017. Finally, we discover her interest in cinema, admiration for Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca and living with contemporary artworks by Bridget Riley, Christopher Wool, Kiki Smith and Rebecca Warren and why Kenwood House in North London is worth a visit!   

Rachel Whiteread’s new solo show ‘Internal Objects’ opened this week at Gagosian in London and runs until 6th June 2021. Follow @RachelWhitereadOfficial and @Gagosian on Instagram. View exhibition views at Gagosian's website: https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2021/rachel-whiteread-internal-objects/ A fully illustrated catalogue, including a short story by John Steinbeck and an essay by Richard Calvocoressi, will be published to accompany the exhibition.

For images of all artworks discussed in this episode visit @TalkArt. Talk Art theme music by Jack Northover @JackNorthoverMusic courtesy of HowlTown.com We've just joined Twitter too @TalkArt. If you've enjoyed this episode PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe 5 stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. For all requests, please email [email protected]

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