Rachael Whiteread – The Influential Contemporary British Artist

One of the influential contemporary British artist – Rachael Whiteread was born in 1963in Ilford. She till now is one of that English artist who is renowned for most of her sculptures produced. Different types of casts are reflected in the art of this English artist. Forgotten loves lost voices and vanished lives are mostly conjured up in her magnificent sculpture. She resides in East London in a former synagogue and had been working as an artist since 1987. In 1988, she displayed her first solo exhibition.

Two of her most essential artworks were ‘Sequel IV’ in 2002 and embankment in 2005. Her first work ‘Sequel Iv’ is a plaster cast sculpture made from steel mount and polystyrene. The key influence behind this artwork was the concept of the collection of books she found related to another artist. For example, the limitation of a provided library has been shown by the working of Karchadourian and the photography of a library has been shown by Hoefer. The moral behind this sculpture was that instead of the signifiers written or passed on it, a book must be weighed and judged from its completely pure form.

Her second work ‘Embankment’ reflected upon the enormous Turbine Hall at Tate Modern at London. The key influence behind this art were her experiences that followed her mother’s death. The artist reflected upon her emotional significance of the humble cardboard box. She displayed that at significant times it is often presented in a similar manner in the lives of people. From her mother’s house, she cast around ten of the boxes and through reproduction and replication, she displayed them through her sculptural procedure.

One of the historic moments of Rachael’s life that inspired her to be a great artist was the moment when she lost her mother. She has worked for a more extended period on fixing the lids of the coffins damaged by time in High gate Cemetery. In 1987, she began to exhibit her art. Rachael’s artwork mostly defines the contemporary art movement and it is what influenced her the most. The negative space of ordinary domestic objects is reflected in most of her works. For instance, around and in pieces of furniture like the buildings and the rooms throughout, the details of architectural objects, the chairs and tables have been reflected by her solid casts of the open space.

One of Rachael’s artwork as a representation of the contemporary art is that industrial materials like the metal, rubber, resin, concrete, and plaster are used by her in order to cast objects relational to architectural space and routinely basis. To the monuments from the intimate one, there is a vast range of sculptures of Rachael Whiteread. One of her display of contemporary art is the House. In the East End in London, the life-sized cast of the interior of the terraced house is displayed by this art. Although later it was demolished controversially and only lasted for a few months.