Rachel Whiteread Drawings

January 31, 2010 - April 25, 2010

: Rachel Whiteread Stairs 1995 Correction fluid on black paper. 11 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (29.5 x 21 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates.; Rachel Whiteread Table 1989 Ink and collage on paper. Inscribed by the artist in ink. 5 5/16 x 7 1/16 in. (13.5 x 18 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Study for Floor (Perspective) 1993 Correction fluid and ink on graph paper. 28 3/10 x 19 1/2 in. (72 x 49.5 cm). The British Museum, London.; Rachel Whiteread Black and White Floor 2001 White ink on black paper. 21 6/10 x 33 in. (55 x 84 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Study for Wax Floor 1992 Correction fluid, ink and watercolor on graph paper. 17 7/8 x 12 in. (45.6 x 30.4 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Untitled (Double Mattress Yellow) 1991 Acrylic, ink, and watercolor on graph paper. 11 5/8 x 16 1/2 in. (29.5 x 42 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Untitled (Double Amber Bed) 1991 Rubber and high density foam. 47 x 54 x 41 in. (119.4 x 137.2 x 104.1 cm). Collection of Gail and Tondy Ganz, Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.; Rachel Whiteread Untitled (Room) 1992 Ink and gouache on graph paper. 16 7/16 x 20 7/16 in. (41.8 x 52 cm). Collection of Gail and Tony Ganz, Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.; Rachel Whiteread Door 1992 Enamel paint and ink on graph paper. 16 1/2 x 11 5/8 in. (42 x 29.5 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Maquette for Holocaust Memorial 1995 Mixed media. 9.8 x 20 7/10 x 29 1/2 in. (25 x 52.5 x 75 cm). Private collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Drawing for Water Tower VI 1997 Varnish, ink, and pencil on graph paper. 33 1/8 x 23 1/4 in. (84.1 x 59.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 2000.; Rachel Whiteread Trafalgar Square Project 1998 Photographic collage and acrylic on museum board. 19 3/4 x 12 3/8 in. (50 x 31.5 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Study for Village - 1st 2004 Ink, pencil and collage on paper. 11 13/16 x 16 3/16 in. (29.9 x 41 cm). Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.; Rachel Whiteread Vitrine Objects. Dimensions and Media variable. Private Collection. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mike Bruce.

The Hammer Museum presents the first museum retrospective of drawings by British artist Rachel Whiteread. While her sculpture is well known and widely published, Whiteread's work on paper has remained largely behind the scenes. "My drawings are a diary of my work," she explains, and like the passages in a diary her drawings range from fleeting ideas to labored reflections. Variegated textures, subtle nuances of tone over colored graph paper, and the play of imagery in collaged constructions are some of the distinctive characteristics of Whiteread's works on paper. A crucial aspect of her artistic practice, they are produced independently of the sculpture yet evoke similarly poignant notions of presence and absence.

In this exhibition, Whiteread's drawings will be accompanied by key examples of her sculptural work. Among the special features of the installation is a vitrine of objects selected by Whiteread. Works by the artist are juxtaposed with items gathered from various sources, such as attics and thrift stores, or found on walks and travels. Fossils, a dental mold, a tin votive, buttons and shoe lasts are just some of the objects that belong to Whiteread's collection of captured memories, and thus to her extended notion of drawing.

This exhibition is organized by Allegra Pesenti, curator, Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer.

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 224-page catalogue with essays by exhibition curator Allegra Pesenti and Ann Gallagher, Head of Collections (British Art) at the Tate. The catalogue is published by the Hammer Museum and DelMonico Books, an imprint of Prestel Publishing.

This exhibition is generously supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Additional support is provided by Gail and Stanley Hollander, the Southern California Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Henry Moore Foundation, the British Council, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.

The catalogue is made possible, in part, by the Contemporary Collectors - Orange County.