Nathaniel Rackowe b. 1975

Overview

Nathaniel Rackowe (b. 1975, UK) creates large-scale architectural structures and light sculptures that recreate the experience of navigating the contemporary city. His works are abstracted impressions of metropolitan environments, using light to evoke the shifting visual sensations of urban space. Influenced by Modernism, he works with mass-manufactured materials such as corrugated plastic, concrete, scaffolding, breeze blocks and strip lights to reflect the collective experience of contemporary life. He graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art, London, with an MFA in Sculpture. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Canary Wharf Light Festival; Parasol Unit, London; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai; and Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, and is held in collections including MONA, Tasmania; CIFO, Miami; Jumex Collection, Mexico City; the UK Government Art Collection; and the Salama bint Hamdan Foundation.

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Works

FL06
Pathfinding, 2008
Black Shed Expanded (BSE), 2014
DG01, 2015
DG04, 2015
SD10, 2016
SD11, 2016
SD13, 2016
PT011, 2021
FL03, 2022
FL05, 2022
FL02, 2022
FL04, 2022
FL07, 2022
FL08, 2022
FL09, 2022
FL10, 2022
FL11, 2022
FL12, 2022
SP9, 2010
The Consequence of Light, 2014

Biography

Nathaniel Rackowe (b. 1975, UK) creates large-scale architectural structures and light sculptures designed to recreate the experience of navigating the contemporary city. His works are abstracted impressions of metropolitan environments, evoked through the changing qualities of light as it fluctuates across urban space. Influenced by Modernism, he uses mass-manufactured materials such as corrugated plastic, concrete, scaffolding, breeze blocks and strip lights, drawing on the visual language of architecture to reflect the collective experience and sensations of contemporary urban life.

Rackowe studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, graduating with an MFA in Sculpture. Working primarily with light, industrial materials and architectural forms, he constructs installations that reference the built environment, transforming familiar structures into abstract compositions that explore movement, perception and the rhythms of the city.

Recent solo and group exhibitions include Drift Point, Commission for Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/ Milan/London/Dubai/Cheng du/LA/NewYork/Tokyo/Seoul (2022); Fractured Landscapes, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2022); Summer Lights Festival, Canary Wharf, London (2022); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2022); Folly, Tremenheere Sculpture Park (2022); Passing Through, Fold Gallery, London (2021); EVI Lichtungen Light Art Festival, Germany (2020); S12 Gallery, Bergen (2020); Luminous Territories, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (2019); The Shape of City, Letitia Art Gallery, Beirut (2018); Threshold, Fold Gallery, London (2018); Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris (2017); Parasolstice – Winter Light, Parasol Unit, London (2016); The Luminous City, Canary Wharf, London (2016); Radiant Trajectory, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2015); Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris (2014); and Bodson Gallery, Brussels (2014).

His works are held in public and private collections including the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania; CIFO, Miami; Jumex Collection, Mexico City; Museum of Modern Art, Lima; LVMH Collection, Paris; UK Government Art Collection; David Roberts Collection, London; Hauser & Wirth Collection; Salama bint Hamdan Foundation, Abu Dhabi; and Modern Forms, London.

Nathaniel Rackowe lives and works in London.

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Exhibitions