VIDEO: Rachel Whiteread-Things That Remain

“One of the biggest gifts we can give as an artist is what is given to the next generation.” Meet the British artist Rachel Whiteread, who in 1993 was the first woman to win the Turner Prize and is considered one of the preeminent sculptors of her generation. Her sculptures typically take the form of casts.

“One of the things that I think really makes people connect with my work is its attachment to reality. It feels like things that we see all the time. But they might be slightly different. It feels like a memory that you have. Or it feels a bit like a dream.”

During the interview, Whiteread looks back at her upbringing in the postwar period and her interest in highlighting things that are usually hidden. “I am a great believer in the fact that we make the world a different place, a richer place actually. It’s nice to know that there are things that I have made that will always be thought about and are part of our culture.”

Rachel Whiteread (b. 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. Whiteread was one of the Young British Artists who exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Sensation exhibition in 1997. Among her most renowned works are House, a large concrete cast of the inside of an entire Victorian house; the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial in Vienna, resembling the shelves of a library with the pages turned outwards; and Untitled Monument, her resin sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to art.

 

Rachel Whiteread was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at her studio in London in June 2022. Camera: Kyle Stevenson, Edited by: Signe Boe Pedersen, Helle Pagter & Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan, Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner, © Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2023. Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling