Sergio Fermariello at the Ronchini: An understated, intricate pleasure

Ronchini Gallery is one of London’s newest galleries and, with its second exhibition featuring Italian artist Sergio Fermariello, the gallery has made a strong start to life in the city.

As the first winner of the Saatchi & Saatchi International Prize for Young Artists in 1989, Fermariello is an artist of considerable pedigree and, in an understated way, this exhibition doesn’t disappoint.

The artist uses ancient-style depictions of warriors and archers, armed with spears, swords and bows and arrows to create abstract-looking patterns which could be mistaken at first for a body of work which takes its cue from the likes of Jackson Pollock.

Although from a distance the exhibition seems rather bland, consisting of its repetitive patterns, as you get closer you see that each symbol is painstakingly detailed and crafted, with depth and dimensions that one can only get a sense of up-close.

This makes Ronchini Gallery a good fit for the Italian, with its small size providing ample opportunity to get up-close to the artist’s work, see the detail and gain a sense of the artisan craftsmanship that makes each piece so special.

At the gallery one can see works old and new, with the Italian crafting his distinctive style in steel, aluminium, canvas and marble resin; his later, more ambitious and striking works piecing together his calligraphic symbols in a way that is almost hypnotic to look at.

It isn’t only the great concepts and abstract meanings that make Fermariello’s art so beautiful and intriguing, but also the delicacy and intricacy of the medium he uses to express his ideas. As such, it’s a very pleasant and involving experience to take a walk around Ronchini Gallery and allow yourself to become lost in his modern, intricate take on the art of the ancients.

Mark Worgan
Photo: Sergio Fermariello, Castel dell’Ovo, Naples, 1999 / Courtesy of Ronchini Gallery

Sergio Fermariello’s exhibition runs at Ronchini Gallery, 22 Dering Street, London W1S 1AN, from 20th April to 9th June 2012.