The Invisible Sea, In Florence, in the Uffizi Gallery, there hangs a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that captures the spirit of the beautiful Arno Valley, where this Italian master was born and exposed to his first visual experiences. The piece exhibits the characteristics of his famed style, condensing that setting with suggestive atmospheric effects and perspectives. The legend tells us that there, as a child, a falcon came down from the sky and flew over da Vinci’s cradle, brushing his face with its feathers. Later he would come to assume that moment as a prophecy, capable of inciting him to delve into the deepest mysteries of life and the arts. The old master, who defined himself as an “illiterate man”, was not a well educated figure, as was expected in his time. However, his creative achievements overflowed with self-taught scientific awareness, defining him as the most brilliant of Renaissance artists. It is possible that Herminio, the modest and discreet man that he is, may have “turned red” in the face on hearing these lines. I am sorry my friend, but I cannot help it; it is natural to think that your way of working, thinking and understanding art, likens you to the Renaissance ideal and to da Vinci’s archetype of supreme creator. And if he drank from surging rivers and from fogbound Tuscan mountains - just as his paintings portray - then you have touched the Cantabrian Sea since your youth, and the misty waters of Viavélez, with its winds, its harbour, its ships and that unique beauty which your sculptures seem to decode so well. Here, da Vinci’s falcon is your North wind; and its feathers, your sea breeze. Grounded on air Varado en el aire (grounded on air) is the title of this exhibition in the Gema Llamazares gallery in Gijón, which marks Herminio’s first single exhibition since 1994 in this city. At that time, he exhibited in the Corneón Gallery where I met him, with his mysterious eyes, and cheeky smile. And where I also encountered his works of muted and rounded multiform cardboard that had been pressed tightly together, whose fragility had turned rocklike. These were age-old volumes that foresaw future achievements. But Herminio had not yet revolutionised the Spanish art scene with his remarkable sculptures. These, playing with magnetic forces and tensions, have successfully made a name for themselves through international exhibitions. Since then, and though he is not yet basking in well-earned recognition,
Hermino’s professional path has intensified considerably. His career
to date has been firm — at least in its creative part — with
an absolute faith in Mother Nature, day-to-day work, and his surroundings.
He has slowly but steadily visited forums and ferias, creating
excitement, to then return ritually to his home-studio. There, in La Caridad,
he has designed a real temple of peace that he has now transformed into
a private and diaphanous space suitable for his works, which, moreover,
coexist with other equally magical inventions, gadgets and devices, that
he uses to construct his own designs. These would undoubtedly provide
for an interesting analysis. But that is another story. Herminio’s well-known magnetic tensions are also present in this exhibition, which includes that complex simplicity that defines both the pieces and the author. However, the subtlety of the works is much greater than before; the technical artistry has a smaller presence; the poetic energy of each composition thus feeds on itself. There are some elements of colour and artificial height that strengthen the performance. In each piece, the connection of fragments amounts to a basic plastic ensemble that’s very direct and visual. It facilitates the spectator’s appreciation of the entire sculptural space by means of a coherent language. A language that corresponds to long hours of work in his studio, from paper to his workroom, from the landscape to his home, from smelting to wood, from geometry and intuitive mathematics to influences of nature. Universal measures are developed in familiar, domestic and nearby shelters, as it is shown in the video included in this exhibition that perfectly illustrates the artist’s creative process. This coherence is fundamental for Herminio who has now incorporated the matter of time into the matter of space. Beyond constructivist, kinetic or minimalist theories, this Asturian artist shows innovative readings of art. His limitless talent dislocates people’s gazes, carrying our emotions along to a new and fantastic dimension, which is much better perceived in private and unhurried contemplation. It is poetics of silence but no doubt tangible, perceptible and mutable poetics; This is a combination of images that are apparently fragile, musically rhythmic and happily volatile. In truth, the exhibition as a whole is a deeply felt tribute to the sea and to naval construction, something stated by some mobile works and by some titles as Arboladura, one of the main works of the exhibition. On the ground floor of the Gallery, a silhouette on a glass surface appears to be floating on air, the metaphoric seabed that will gather rhymes and other legends. It is a faithful reflection from where we emerge as an active part of the stage design itself - as it is exactly the case with barloventos, pataches, obenques and so on, among metals that look like trees or seemingly metallic pieces of wood. The notion of purity and elementalism is outlined in the sense of sculpture as a merging of place, landscape, architecture and memory. And reaffirmation of matter can be understood as material nature with a space-time nucleus that announces ever-active processes, as axes of immutable reality —just like in life. Ángel Antonio Rodríguez |