Agostino Ferrari, Interno / Esterno, 2011, cm 150 x 150, acrilico + sabbia su tela

How can an artist explore and transform a single element until it becomes the focus of his artistic expression? In this post I want to share with you some things I have discovered about Agostino Ferrari, an important artist in the Italian art scene, born in Milan in 1938.
Agostino Ferrari’s works are distinguished by his innovative use of sign, an element that has characterized and continually renewed his style over the years.

The works of Agostino Ferrari

AGOSTINO FERRARI. Oltre la soglia del segno, Museo Diocesano Brescia 2024, Ph. Giorgia Dandrea

The introduction of sign-writing in the early 1960s and its evolution into a spatial and theatrical dimension marked the initial stages of Agostino Ferrari’s artistic journey.
The artist explored the evocative power of color and pictorial sign, using materials such as black sand to enrich the texture of his works. His exhibitions, beginning with his first solo show at the Pater Gallery in Milan in 1961, outlined a path of continuous experimentation and dialogue with international artistic currents.

Agostino Ferrari began his artistic journey by exploring a primordial sign-writing. This research developed within the Cenobio group and then evolved by adding a new spatial and theatrical dimension to his art.
In the following decades, Ferrari deepened his analysis of the psychological values of colors, creating works that explore visual narrative through pictorial sign. This approach resulted in several series of works, including the notable “Sign-Writing” and “Tales.”

AGOSTINO FERRARI AND POP ART

1961 marked a turning point for Ferrari with his first solo exhibition, during a period when figurative and informal painting dominated the Italian scene. His participation in the Gruppo del Cenobio, along with artists such as Arturo Vermi and Ugo La Pietra, represented an attempt to renew painting through minimal symbols. Ferrari’s interest in American Pop Art artists led him to New York, where he met key figures such as Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns, experiences that profoundly influenced his “Labyrinths” series of works.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SIGN

In the following years, Ferrari continued to explore and innovate his style.
The “Sign Theater” and “Total Form” series introduced a three-dimensional approach that transcended the traditional boundaries of the canvas. The artist also developed plastic research, examining the dialogue between sign, form and color. His more mature works, such as the series “Beyond the Threshold,” begun in 2002, investigate the relationship between the narrative surface of sign and the depth of unknown space, symbolized by absolute blackness.
Agostino Ferrari’s path is thus far from over, and his latest works demonstrate this.

Agostino Ferrari, Oltre la soglia, 2006, cm 150 x 150, acrilico + sabbia su tela

Observing Agostino Ferrari’s works is equivalent to taking a relentless journey through the sign, which manifests itself in continuous transformation on the canvas and beyond.
His work not only represents a significant contribution to the history of Italian art, but also offers a profound reflection on human experience and art’s ability to explore and communicate emotional and intellectual complexities. To explore Agostino Ferrari’s works is to immerse oneself in a universe where the sign becomes a bridge between the visible and the invisible, the internal and the external, the personal and the universal.