Using different supports -always white- with the more traditional basic shapes of Herminio’s repertoire (circles or rectangles, to which he had added elements in the shape of an L, broken circles or concave shapes), Herminio’s strategy is to raise, using magnetic fields, a rod in front of or on the work. In addition to this enigmatically floating element, the sculptures were made up of a fixed support that was substantial and defining of the sculpture. Substantial, because it is on this background that the rod (and its shadow) can be read and defining because it delimits it in space.
In the exhibition, it was evident -although in a more emphatic way in the bi-chromatic work- the play of the line in the space, a key element of the work. These sculptures show the subtle use of two colors to enhance the effect that the artist achieves with the use of the magnetic field. The white background, considered a neutral color, allows a much clearer reading of the red rod.
But Herminio also offers a second vision of the sculpture, once the first impression of seeing the suspended rod has been overcome. It is then that we notice that this apparent neutral background is much more than this: it is a geometric shape that forces us to take a second reading to consider it the main part of the work.
The suspended element and its background are, therefore, the same work, and maintain a spatial conversation as equals.
The white monochromatic series is much more subtle, yet just as effective as the two-color series. It immediately refers us to Malevich’s “white square on a white background” (1918), although Herminio has managed to physically separate, through the use of magnets, a white on his white background.
Herminio has been exclusively represented by Galería Cayón since 2010. This is the artist’s first exhibition at Galería Cayón since the 2012 retrospective exhibition at the Niemeyer Center (Avilés, Asturias).
