Dominique White: When Disaster Strikes

About the Exhibition

Dominique White deals with blackness in its conceptual and material implications. Her works function as abstract commemorative sculptures, appearing as though they have been literally dredged from the sea. The sculptures represent the materialisation of black life beyond its subjective boundaries, as lighthouses or vessels of an ignored civilisation. White draws on various legends that have their origins in the depths of the ocean, creating monuments to an underwater nation made up of submerged non-human beings.

Artistic Materials & Process

White combines the imitation of a shipwreck with destroyed sails, dilapidated hand-woven nets, ropes and tattered buoys wrapped in a ghostly kaolin shroud. Harpoons, which appear decomposed by salt water, are recurring elements. The sculptures embody states of preservation, decay and destruction, incorporating wrought iron (rusted), sisal, destroyed sail, mahogany (burnt), and high volatile charcoal.

Exhibition Dates

• 9 December 2023 – 10 March 2024
• Location: Kunsthalle Münster

About the Artist

Dominique White (b. 1993, UK) is a graduate of Goldsmiths University of London and Central Saint Martins. She is the winner of the 9th edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women (2022–24) and was awarded the Roger Pailhas Prize in 2019. She received awards from Artangel and the Henry Moore Foundation in 2020. White works nomadically and has exhibited internationally at institutions including Art Basel, Bold Tendencies, La Casa Encendida Madrid, and Triangle-Astérides Marseille.