Sculpting Space

Where: National Gallery of Art, East Building

When: closing January 13, 2019*

Rachel Whiteread makes casts of the space in and around objects.  At the very beginning of her major retrospective currently on display at the National Gallery, there are many brightly colored boxes, arranged in rows.  Turns out, they are the space underneath chairs.

Although I didn't recognize her name, I recognized her cast of the space under a bed, made out of dental plaster.  I saw it at the Hirshhorn several years ago, and I remember thinking at the time, "Well, isn't that something?  Why exactly would someone want to do this?"  Seeing a lot (a lot - this is in the huge space in the East Building on the concourse level) more of her work, I have more appreciation of some of it.  The space under the bed is still perplexing.

Apparently dental plaster is one of her preferred media, as she's also done a range of library shelves, or I should say, the space around a range of library shelves, out of dental plaster, which I've included here (because of course I did).  It may be hard to see in this photo, but it's not the books, it's the space around the books.  If you can look at it close up, you'll see what I mean.  Because I just can't let an opportunity to criticize the Hirshhorn pass me by, I noticed that this piece belongs to them.  Why is it not on display?  Is it that they're pressed for space, and the "underneath the bed" piece is smaller?  If that's the case, I've got a long list of things they could consign to storage to make room for this.

She also does photography, and a series of pictures of a demolished public housing project in East London is among her works.  This I understand, or at least, I think I do.  Granted that public housing projects are often ugly, dirty and crime-ridden, what happens to the people who live there when they are torn down?  Especially if they are removed to make way for more posh living arrangements?

I also was moved by her piece CONTENTS.  This is the space in boxes of her mother's belongings she cleaned out.  Since I'm doing a lot of cleaning out of my own mother's belongings, this resonated.

At the end of the show, there's a daybed you can actually sit on - I'm always excited to be able to "touch the art"!

Verdict: This is an enormous show, so you'll need more than a lunch hour to see the whole thing.  Some of it is just weird; some of it is pretty good.

*Note: if the government shutdown continues, the National Gallery may be closed after January 2.  Check the website for more details.