About the Exhibit - Raft

Rachel Kneebone’s exhibit, Raft, is on view at White Cube in Mason’s yard, London from July 7th until September 4th, 2021. The exhibit features Rachel’s signature porcelain sculptures, complemented by drawings that revolve around the themes of transformation and metamorphosis. 

“Responding to Théodore Géricault's essential theme of the agony of physical existence, Kneebone probes the arc of human life: birth, growth, change and death.” (source) 

The exhibition's title is in reference to Théodore Géricault's famous Romanticism painting - The Raft of the Medusa (1818–19). The painting inspired Kneebone to explore a modern interpretation of the painting, leading her to create works based around conceptual concepts such as - hope in the face of despair.

“There are plenty of classical allusions in Kneebone’s works….[but] they are truly contemporary creations, and although we might see in them any number of Renaissance and baroque masterpieces (Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement and Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of Medusa come to mind), Kneebone leaves it to the viewer to interpret her work.” - Studio International (source)

“My work is concerned with being human, being alive in the world and inhabiting the body”  - Rachel Kneebone (source)

“Although legs feature a lot, they are not really the primary focus. The leg indexes the classical body, and especially its movement. It is a recognisable signifier and, as an identifiable form, acts as a way in, or a starting point, when looking at a sculpture before creating meaning.” - Rachel Kneebone (source)

“I don’t see whiteness as an absence, rather as a kind of fullness, inviting many different interpretations because whiteness does not fix meaning in the same way colour does.” - Rachel Kneebone (source)

“This sculpture feels as if it is about to expand and grow, or recoil and shrink. Installed against a stormy blue wall, our senses are heightened. The whiteness of the porcelain against the blue shows us the different textures of the material, from smooth to grainy.” - White Cube Director Hannah Gruy

Video of the Exhibit

About the Artist - Rachel Kneebone

Rachel Kneebone is a British artist who lives and works in London. She has a B.A. from the University of West England and an M.A. in sculpture from the Royal College of Art. 

“Rachel Kneebone's work addresses and questions the human condition: renewal, life cycles and the physical body.” (source) 

“Working primarily in sculpture that embraces the unpredictable nature of its medium – porcelain - Kneebone focuses on ideas of movement and metamorphosis, transformation and suspension and the material manifestation of fluid physical states.” (source) 

She currently has another exhibit on view at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, UK, until April 24th, 2022.