RODRIGO HERNÁNDEZ

P420 is pleased to present the solo exhibition Anche di notte (Also at night) by the Mexican artist Rodrigo Hernández (Mexico City, 1983) which for the third time brings newly produced works into the spaces of the gallery, pieces created precisely during his stay in Bologna, stimulated by the history and atmosphere of the city with particular reference to the collection of the Museo Civico Medievale, a place of great appeal for the artist. 

Anche di notte is an exhibition that is intimate, luminous and nocturnal at the same time. The space of the gallery is filled by the silent world created by Hernández, whose stylized images delicately pervade the gaze of the visitor, who is immersed in a new dimension rich in imaginaries and symbols. 

The first room contains one single painting that gives the exhibition its title, and a trompe-l’oeil wall painting recreating one of Bologna’s famous porticos in dialogue with a brass work portraying a bat, an animal that always suggests the nocturnal side of the world.

The second part of the show is composed of an installation of large works made with hand-hammered brass, whose figures and motifs are traced with soft lines, while the vibrant color of the brass adds luminosity and warmth: the golden background creates a devotional atmosphere that brings out the intimacy of the subjects. The result is a narrative path that wavers between references from a medieval universe and an intriguing setting suspended between dream and reality.

Hernández’s research has always focused on classic and modern arts and crafts, expressed through linguistic experimentation that combines simple materials (paper, wood, metal) with original, refined content (Japanese writing, imagery of Pre-Columbian art, European Modernism), reworked and reformulated with a very personal style and unexpected lightness. Hernández has developed a poetics in which elements from literature, art history and observation of the world converge in a new continuously evolving vocabulary, spoken from the surface of things. As if left alone to gaze at each other, figurative and abstract motifs unite and dialogue with each other, generating works that remind us of the unknown, yet present themselves to us with a warm familiarity.

Visitors to the exhibition will be accompanied with a critical essay by Stella Bottai.