Let it go – Galleri Thomassen 2019

In her first solo exhibition at Galleri Thomassen, Jamila Drott shows works in metal that operate on the border between painting and sculpture. Entering into dialogue with both traditions, she freely uses art historical, as well as pop- and subcultural references as a gameboard where various and often contradictory strategies can be contemplated, role-played and appropriated.

Drott’s sculptural paintings often resemble landscapes, topographical maps or satellite images; undefined terrains and territories. But these figurative associations never take a definitive form. At first glance, they present the possibility of unfolding another world, beyond their own materiality, but upon closer consideration they simultaneously establish themselves as 1:1 sculptural objects in the room.

In the working process, the image is approached as a horizontal plane; a surface placed on the ground that the artist moves across as she inscribes it with sculptural gestures, layers of paint, notes and doodlings. Granting herself access to public space, by using the city as work space, Drott also lets the surrounding context influence and imprint her work.