While the monolithic
works that sculptor Rachel Whiteread became famous for can cost millions to
transport, the contents of her latest show can be folded up and put in a back
pocket. Whiteread has opened her sketchbook to display a collection of drawings
which contain the idiosyncratic use of negative space she is known for, just on
a more human scale.
They are in sharp
contrast to the monumental relief sculptures of rooms, bathtubs and –
infamously – an entire Tudor house cast in plaster with which she made her
name.
While the sculptures
are impossible to ignore, her drawings have a subtle presence that announces
itself more quietly. They retain their sculptural quality through layers of
collaged paper, textured paint and heavy application of correction fluid.
Taking a torn up sofa
catalogue or the pattern of a herringbone floor, Whiteread makes an art of
turning the mundane into the extraordinary. The artist’s sketches are like a
diary, tracking the evolution of thoughts and ideas from conception to detailed
technical drawings of resolved works.
As different as the
drawings are from her monumental sculptures, Whiteread’s ability to imbue
forgotten spaces with depth and meaning is still very much evident. She has a
nostalgic concern for the domestic, and the residue its inhabitants leave
behind.
Like tombstone blocks,
Whiteread’s sculptures have been all but purged of the human hand that
fashioned them. It is through her drawings that it is finally possible to see
the emotion and detail in her work.
In the same way as the
reliefs of domestic spaces, Whiteread’s drawings are as much about what has
been taken away as what is included.
An old postcard has had holes punched in it until the image is almost
totally obscured, and the windows of a house in a real estate listing have been
ominously blacked out. While her use of negative space is more delicate, it
still has a powerful effect on the viewer.
Whiteread’s work is
liable to jump dramatically in scale and scope without warning, from the
everyday to the immense. Even though her innate sense of proportion is always
present, it is not hard to see why Whiteread has requested that the sculptures
and drawings never be shown together.
In contrast to the
undeniable weight her previous artworks possess, these drawings have a fleeting
quality – the materials ephemeral, her hand light. It is as though the viewer
has simply gathered up the scattered fragments of a project left unfinished.
In this way, the
preparation becomes a work of art in itself, laying bare the progression of the
artist’s thoughts and emotions. Whiteread’s new work offers an invaluable
opportunity to catch a glimpse into the private process that goes into
rendering an absence visible.