View all Michael Rakowitz artworks
Michael Rakowitz’s work, The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square.To celebrate the occasion, Plinth have worked with Rakowitz to produce a limited edition that is inspired by the artist's interest in themes of food and hospitality as a means by which to bridge cultural and political divides and the Arabic proverb: A House With A Date Palm Will Never Starve.Each piece consists of a date syrup tin, sourced from Karbala in Iraq and accompanied by a signed artist’s book of recipes from chefs including Claudia Roden, Honey & Co. and Michael’s mother, Yvonne Rakowitz.The recipes all incorporate date syrup, whether peripherally or centrally; The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist is itself made of date syrup cans, alluding to the economy for a foodstuff destabilised by the war that saw the original Lamassu destroyed.The edition constitutes a proposal to reengage with and reinvigorate the market for the syrup, as well as an invitation to a Western audience to discover a Middle Eastern cupboard staple.The work is an edition of 2,376 - the same number of Karbala cans as feature in the Fourth Plinth commission itself, and a playful invitation to the public to take a piece of it home with them.
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Artwork Details
Iraqi date syrup, tinned, and artist's cookbook
No apparent condition issues
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Michael Rakowitz (1973 - present) is an Iraqi-American artist who lives and works in Chicago. The artist often works in conceptual art that functions as responses to current political, social, or cultural wrongdoings.
Michael Rakowitz (1973 - present) is an Iraqi-American artist who lives and works in Chicago. The artist often works in conceptual art that functions as responses to current political, social, or cultural wrongdoings.
He is well known for creating a reconstructed Assyrian statue consisting of a human headed, winged bull on top of Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth. We love his illustrative prints showing insights into the artist’s creative process. Rakowitz has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows internationally ranging from MoMA to Tate Modern. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the 2020 Nasher Prize, the 2018 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, and a 2012 Tiffany Foundation Award. He is a professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University.
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