Nathaniel Rackowe b. 1975
Nathaniel Rackowe's large-scale architectural structures and light sculptures are designed to recreate the experience of navigating the city around us. His works are abstracted impressions of today’s metropolitan experience evoked through the vicissitudes of light as it fluctuates throughout the city. Influenced by Modernism, Rackowe uses the mass manufactured derivative products of that era - corrugated plastics, concrete, scaffolding, breeze blocks and strip lights - to recreate the collective experience and visual sensations of urban contemporary life.
Nathaniel Rackowe was born in the UK in 1975 and graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art with an MFA in sculpture.
exhibitions
Recent solo and group shows include Summer Lights Festival, Canary Wharf, London, 2022; The Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2022; Folly at Tremenheere Sculpture Park, London, UK, 2022; Passing Through, Fold Gallery, Fitzrovia, London, UK, 2021; EVI Lichtungen, Light Art Festival, Hildesheim, Germany, 2020; Lightkeepers, S12 Gallery, Bergen, Norway, 2020; Luminous Territories solo, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE, 2019; The Shape of City, Letitia Art Gallery, Beirut, 2018; Threshold, FOLD Gallery, London, UK, 2018; (De)figured, Dance / Installation with Angela Woodhouse, Elephant x Griffin, London, UK, 2018; Signs of a City, Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France, 2017; Parasolstice – Winter Light, Parasol Unit, London, UK, 2016; The Luminous City, Canary Wharf, London, UK, 2016; Radiant Trajectory, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, UAE, 2015; Edge Lands, Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France, 2014 and The Consequence of Light, Bodson Gallery, Brussels, Belgium, 2014.
Collections
His works are in notable public and private collections including Ventes Privées, Paris, France; Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania, Australia; CIFO (Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation), Miami, FL, USA; Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico; Museum of Modern Art, Lima, Peru; LVMH Collection, Paris, France; David Roberts Collection, London, UK; UK Government Art Collection, London, UK; Hauser & Wirth Collection, London, UK; Ernst & Young Collection, London, UK; VR d’Affaux Collection, Paris, France; Patricia Marshall, Private collection, Paris, France; Marc Blondeau, Private collection, Geneva, Switzerland; Almine-Rech-Picasso, Private collection, Paris, France; Salama Bint Hamdan Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE and Modern Forms, UK.
Rackowe currently lives and works in London.
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Nathaniel Rackowe: Fractured Landscapes
Solo Exhibition 22 Sep - 4 Nov 2022 GalleryFractured Landscapes is the third solo exhibition by London-based artist Nathaniel Rackowe (b. 1975, UK) to be shown at the gallery. Rackowe’s practice spans public art, installation, sculpture, contemporary dance...Read more -
Under Construction
Group Exhibition 31 May - 26 Jun 2021 GalleryUnder Construction, a group exhibition held in two parts, presents a series of incomplete, evolving, overlapping, paradoxical concepts - building structures, formulating symbols, manufacturing appearance, fabricating histories and reconstituting anatomies....Read more -
SQUARE PRISM
Nathaniel Rackowe at the EVI LICHTUNGEN, Hildesheim, Germany 23 - 26 Jan 2020 BiennialsEVI LICHTUNGEN - the International Light Art Biennale taking place in Hildesheim, Germany - is a decentralized exhibition project, where international artists and their works enter into a dialogue with...Read more -
Each Day An Artist
12 May - 1 Sep 2018 GalleryLawrie Shabibi is pleased to present “Each Day an Artist” from 12 May – [12 June], 2018. “Each Day an Artist” is an exhibition conceived for the holy month of...Read more -
UNSEEN
SUMMER GROUP EXHIBITION 25 May - 8 Sep 2016 GalleryFor the final exhibition of the season Lawrie Shabibi presents UNSEEN, a group show of recent works by artists from the gallery roster: Adel Abidin, Farhad Ahrarnia, Asad Faulwell, Driss...Read more -
Radiant Trajectory
Nathaniel Rackowe 12 Jan - 7 Mar 2015 GalleryNathaniel Rackowe considers light to be one material in his palette as an artist, using it throughout his practice as both a surface and a point of origin. The title...Read more -
O Sole Mio
Nathaniel Rackowe at Parasol unit, LondonParasol unit foundation for contemporary art presents an online exhibition and digital publication of works by a selection of contemporary artists and the wider artistic community in response to the...Read more
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Nathaniel Rackowe in Sculpture Magazine
Elizabeth Fullerton, Sculpture Magazine, September 9, 2022 -
Contemporary Identities: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Nathaniel Rackowe
Sophie Kazan, Contemporary Identities -
Nathaniel Rackowe in Blouin Art Info
Amanda Avery, Blouin Art Info, November 1, 2016 -
The Scandale Project interviews Nathaniel Rackowe
Fiona Vilmer, The Scandale Project -
Architectural Digest features Nathaniel Rackowe's work
Mayer Rus, Architectural Digest, July 6, 2016 -
Kunst collectif covers Nathaniel Rackowe
Hermine Roquet, Kunst Collectif, June 9, 2016 -
Nathaniel Rackowe in Art Asia Pacific
Kevin Jones, Art Asia Pacific Blog, January 20, 2015 -
Elephant Magazine Previews Rackowe's 'Radiant Trajectory'
Elephant Magazine, January 15, 2015 -
Exhibiting the Radiance of Dubai Using Light - Nathaniel Rackowe in the Khaleej Times
Kelly Clarke, Khaleej Times, January 15, 2015 -
Nathaniel Rackowe in Modern Painters
MP, Modern Painters, January 1, 2015
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A Closer Look with Nathaniel Rackowe | Fractured Landscapes Exhibition
22 September - 4 November 2022 September 22, 2022 -
Nathaniel Rackowe
O Sole Mio July 2, 2020London-based artist Nathaniel Rackowe talks about his response to Parasol unit's 'O Sole Mio ' online exhibition and how a specific line in the iconic...Read more -
Nathaniel Rackowe
Black Shed Expanded at Parasol Unit, London November 21, 2016London-based artist Nathaniel Rackowe discusses the ideas behind his extraordinary light sculpture 'Black Shed Expanded' which is exhibited at Parasol unit as part of the...Read more