Press Release

Pirelli HangarBicocca presents Remains, Italy’s first major solo show of works by Sheela Gowda.Featured in the monumental and undivided space of the Navate, the exhibition is a unique opportunity to discover more than 20 years of Gowda’s production. In addition to new works, the show includes a wide selection of site-specific installations and sculptures, as well as watercolors and prints, ranging from 1996 through the present day, giving shape to an unprecedented experience of her practice.

 

 

International Archives 1st half of 2019

Sheela Gowda, Remains

Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (Italy)

04.04 - 15.09.2019

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© ArtCatalyse International / Marika Prévosto 2019. All Rights Reserved

Earthbound showcases a selection of 14 works featuring Mendieta’s interest in the four elements: air, water, fire and earth. In the context of the sculpture collection of the Middelheim Museum, where both the artist and the visitor are always subjected to the elements, Mendieta’s artistic ideas resonate strongly with the recent developments in sculpture, installation and performance art. The project opens up perspectives on how we relate as human beings to our surrounding environment. Through a direct bodily connection with nature, Mendieta’s works seek both a means of individual self-representation and a connection to universal ancestral power.

The exhibition offers a plurality of voices in the museum, where Mendieta’s works will be shown alongside those of present-day artists. Mendieta’s work not only persistently tests the definition of contemporary sculpture but is also inspiring for the contemporary challenges of today’s society. The framework of Bruno Latour's recent publication Facing Gaia might offer an interesting perspective for exploring the exhibited works of Mendieta. By acknowledging that nature and its elements all have agency, the artist was able to think beyond the boundaries of religion, history and identity. Similar strategies are suggested thirty years later by Bruno Latour in his proposal for realising a new climatic regime and for changing our relationship to the earth.

It’s absolutely clear that Mendieta's artistic vision not only raises fundamental questions about normative social systems, but that it also represents a shift in perspective on recent sculpture traditions, from a vision determined by object oriented-sculpture, to one connected with land art and performance.

The exhibition is a collaboration with the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection & Galerie Lelong & Co.

Curator: Pieter Boons

Sheela Gowda,  And that is no lie, 2015 (detail). Installation view: Pérez Art Museum Miami, 2015–16. Courtesy the artist and Pérez Art Museum Miami. Photo: Oriol Tarridas.  

 

Exhibition April 4 - September 15, 2019. Pirelli HangarBicocca, Via Chiese, 2 - 20126 Milan (Italy). T. +39 02 6611 1573. Hours: Thursday–Sunday 10am–10pm