Rachel Whiteread

Haunch of Venison London opened with a major exhibition from British sculptor Rachel Whiteread from 30 Oct - 21 Dec 2002. The exhibition featured a major new sculpture as well as works dating from 1995 to the present day.

The new work, 'Untitled (Domestic)' (2002) was derived from the building in which it was exhibited; the massive, previously unseen sculpture was cast from the fire escape staircases of Haunch of Venison's premises.

In the late 18th century the gallery's three storey building was home to Admiral Lord Nelson while he recuperated from having lost his arm in the Battle of Santa Cruz. Reincarnating the staircase in negative form, the imposing white sculpture measured seven meters high and over six meters in length. In addition to invoking the building's past, it reflected the artist's interest in the formal and purely architectural qualities of sculpture.

Whiteread has achieved international acclaim as a contemporary sculptor since her ambitious public art project House in 1993, an onsite cast of the inside of one of the last remaining houses scheduled for demolition in London's East End. Other public commissions have included 'Monument' (2001), an exact inversion of the 14 foot Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square made in translucent resin.

Rachel Whiteread