The Goodwood Art Foundation will launch its opening season with an exhibition devoted to Rachel Whiteread, one of the most highly respected sculptors of her generation, presented in partnership with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The exhibition will include a major new work never before seen in public, alongside a collection of her photography, a rarely exhibited aspect of her work. The exhibition will bring together a selection of Whiteread’s sculptures and photographs across the Foundation’s 70-acre landscape and in the Pavilion Gallery. A major new work, cast in concrete, will be displayed outdoors, along with her cast sculptures Detached II (2012) and Untitled (Pair) (1999). They will form a prominent journey throughout the Foundation’s Schwarzman Gardens, which have been designed by the award-winning landscape designer Dan Pearson.
Within the two spaces of the original Craig Downie-designed Pavilion Gallery, which has been refurbished to the highest standard, will be two major recent sculptures alongside a selection of Whiteread’s new photographs. Central to her practice are the photographs she has consistently produced as source material for her work. While her drawings have been the subject of extensive exhibitions, her photographic output is less well-known. Exhibited for the first time, this selected group of photographs will focus on outdoor elements and views, presenting an insight into her working method and epitomising the indoor/outdoor vision of the new Goodwood Art Foundation.
“I am delighted to be the first artist profiled in the inaugural exhibition within the beautifully refurbished Pavilion Gallery and landscape of the new Goodwood Art Foundation. The ethos of providing audiences with the opportunity to experience contemporary art integrated into a carefully designed natural environment is something I particularly respond to. It has been a journey to work with the curatorial and exhibition team from the outset, alongside the discoveries within the landscape. Ultimately this will be a wonderful gift for the generations ahead of us.”
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread (b.1963) was the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993. She is known for her resonant and intimately scaled sculptures of everyday objects, typically cast from plaster, resin or concrete. She has increasingly been drawn to architectural structures, made up of single or multiple elements, shown both within galleries and in remote landscape settings internationally. Her sculptural vocabulary has expanded to include constructed as well as cast elements, while retaining a focus on the intrinsic memory of objects and environments, isolated in space.
Alongside Rachel Whiteread, among the works by other artists selected to be shown in the opening season, is a major outdoor installation by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980), the first work from his ‘Magic Square’ series to be shown outside Brazil, and new work responding to the specific environment of the Goodwood Art Foundation will be presented by the Montserrat-born, London & New York based sculptor Veronica Ryan, winner of the 2022 Turner Prize. The full annual programme will be announced later this spring.
The Goodwood Art Foundation has been conceived around three pillars – Art, Environment and Education, and builds on a long legacy of arts engagement at the Goodwood Estate.
The Foundation’s art programme is led by consultant curator Ann Gallagher, an independent curator working internationally with extensive experience, most recently working as Director of Collections, British Art, at Tate. An ambitious programme, in range and scale, will play out across both indoor and outdoor settings.
The 70-acre landscape, named Schwarzman Gardens, comprising ancient woodland, wooded glades and wildflower meadows has been devised by renowned landscape designer Dan Pearson. His naturalistic and intuitive design will deliver an ever-changing journey through nature and art, based around 25 seasonal moments.
The education programme is devised by Sally Bacon, a writer and consultant with a career in championing cultural learning across the education and arts sector. A carefully structured creative learning programme with ‘art within the natural environment’ at its heart, will connect to curriculum work and focus on pupil mental health and wellbeing. It will break down barriers to make the Foundation’s art, learning activities and creative resources easily accessible for schools.
Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, said:
“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ commitment to art reflects the marque’s standing as a meeting point for creatives across diverse artistic disciplines. Our driving ambition – to inspire greatness – is born of the same restless curiosity that spurs artists into new terrain. We are delighted to support the Goodwood Art Foundation, an exciting new artistic hub dedicated, as we are, to showcasing the best of the best, and located almost on the doorstep of the Home of Rolls-Royce. As an artist committed to originality and excellence, we welcome Rachel Whiteread as the Foundation’s opening exhibitor.”
The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, CBE, DL, said:
“The Goodwood Art Foundation will present the very best of international art in an innovative and engaging way. It will place important works of contemporary art in a beautiful, ever-changing natural environment, while also delivering a powerful education programme to inspire all our visitors. With the support of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, we are delighted to present a major new Rachel Whiteread exhibition for the launch of the Foundation.”
Rachel Whiteread, 31st May – 2nd November 2025 Goodwood Art Foundation
Tickets and memberships are on sale from today, 6th March 2025 Book now: Goodwoodartfoundation.org
