ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Rachel Whiteread's Melancholy Casts

artist · 2026-04-23

Rachel Whiteread's early work, created during her student years, explored the concept of utility through metal objects resembling tools. The British sculptor now shifts conceptual art through powerful plaster or rubber casts of objects, which are geometric yet charged with affect and memory, individualizing them.

Key facts

  • Rachel Whiteread is a British sculptor.
  • As a student, she researched the idea of utility.
  • She made metal objects resembling tools.
  • Her current work uses plaster or rubber casts.
  • Her casts are geometric and charged with affect and memory.
  • The casts individualize the objects.
  • The article is from artpress.com, September 1992.
  • The article title is 'Rachel Whiteread La mélancolie des moulages'.

Entities

Artists

  • Rachel Whiteread

Institutions

  • artpress

Sources