About the Artwork
Nathaniel Rackowe’s large-scale urban shed structure is installed, seemingly mid-explosion, upside-down, its contours wrenched apart, exposing its illuminated interior. The wooden shed, painted with black bitumen, emanates an eerie acid-yellow glow from the white strip-lighting inside it reflecting off the painted walls of its interior. The structure appears to be exploding, split apart by the force of the light within. Rackowe says, ‘I thought it interesting to take the humble shed and elevate it so it can rise up and challenge architecture, deconstructing it to the point where you are forced to re-read it.’ Referring to garden sheds throughout the suburbs of London, the work has an equally universal impact in its depiction of such a familiar, domestic structure.
Year: 2014/2016
Copyright the artist, courtesy of William Benington Gallery Photo: © Nick Turpin
Material
Timber shed, fluorescent lights and fittings, bitumen, paint, steel
Dimensions
240 x 220 x 220 cm. Edition 2 of 2 (2016 edition)