Sheela Gowda | Untitled (Dripfield), 2009

On the occasion of “Remains” the exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Sheela Gowda has created a limited edition that exemplifies her longstanding relationship with drawing. The edition Untitled (Dripfield) is an offset print version of the preparatory sketch she created in watercolours for the work Dripfield (2009). Conceived for the 9th Biennale of Sharjah (UAE), the installation included elements such as water and sound, in relation to the urban context of a city street. Gaining attention in the 1980s as a figurative artist, Gowda gravitated toward a more abstract expression that superseded the two-dimensional confines of the canvas. For this limited edition she has turned to drawing, a means of expression rarely seen in her more recent work but which remains fundamental to her practice. Endorsing the vision that underpins the entire exhibition project, the work Untitled (Dripfield) highlights the artist’s site-specific approach, her use of an abstract form of line, her compositional system and palette, and the body’s relationship with the architectural space.