The Coningsby Gallery is proud to announce the début solo London exhibition of Italian artist Alberto Repetti (b. 1961). The exhibition will present a body of new work, created exclusively for the exhibition, in addition to a tailored selection of Alberto’s artworks created in biro ink.

Much of Alberto’s initial inspiration derives from the tangible landscape of this world. He seeks to draw a line of correlation between what he sees – all the forms of nature that interest him in their objective, formal meaning – and their connection to the internal landscape he perceives within himself, to which he gives shape. Combining his observational drawings with other forms and images arising from his memory and his notes, he constructs abstract yet possible, visit-able landscapes.

Whilst he has also trained and practiced as a fine art painter, more recently Alberto has focused on the outwardly unassuming ballpoint pen as his main medium. Its often-underestimated characteristics are what draw him to use it; with it one can create areas of subtle shade as if it were stick of graphite, yet also produce areas of dense blackness as deep as pure ink. It also requires discipline and precision, since there is no possibility of erasing marks once they have been created, which adds tension to the act of creating nuance; an unexpected accumulation of ink, if not removed in time, can stain and frustrate the work of a whole day.

Alberto’s consideration of his technique relates to his appreciation of how time spent making art is, in and of itself, part of its content: “The relationship between my hand, the medium and the surface comes together to create a tangible image. The artwork is a summation of the signs and shapes I’ve perceived through the act of observing the real, and then transferred on to a sheet of paper. Time is the true protagonist, represented by the execution of the whole image”.

To be appreciated in all their fullness, Alberto’s artworks require close observation and attention, in much the same way that they were conceived. In their close interaction with the work, scrutinising the strokes and marks, Alberto hopes that viewers can retrace the history of the artwork’s path. “You have to put the viewer in front of the work and let him explore it”, Alberto explains, “as though you are in a place and you want to see everything around you. You have to move your eyes in every direction”.

Alberto is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Art in Genoa. Over the past 35 years he has exhibited his paintings and drawings extensively in both his native country of Italy and internationally. ‘Birorama: Real and Irreal Landscapes’ will bring together, for the first time, a cohesive collection of his works created in biro and offers a detailed and enlightening look into this aspect of his practice.