Hermann Bergamelli
L’ULTIMO PASTO È UNA COPPA DI RAMEN
Zazà Ramen presents “L’ultimo pasto è una coppa di ramen”, Hermann Bergamelli’s site-specific work for the restaurant in Via Solferino.
Eight years after the start of its contemporary art project, Zazà Ramen presents a new collaboration with Bergamelli, an artist represented by the A+B Gallery of Brescia.
The restaurant owner Brendan Becht’s fascination with Herman Bergamelli’s work was born thanks to a chance encounter with his work. From that moment, a dialogue between the two started, fuelled by both Brendan’s sensitivity for art and the artist’s passion for cooking. Their enthusiasm naturally led to the decision to work together in the Via Solferino space.
“L’ultimo pasto è una coppa di ramen” was conceived for a different context than a traditional exhibition space, one that welcomes a transversal audience. The artist thereby creatively experimented with the wall of the restaurant entrance, rethinking the concept of space and livelihood, of welcoming and spontaneity.
The meaning behind the title of the work is twofold. It refers to the name of the 80th episode of the second Lupin III series, in which Zazà is the nickname of Commissioner Zenigata. It also hints at the structural affinity between Bergamelli’s work and the ramen dish, namely the layering of elements, which in a ramen, corresponds to ingredients whilst in the work is expressed through the variety of colours.
The installation covers the entire entrance wall, with a height of 3.5 meters and a width of 4.7 meters. The artist used fabric as a characteristic feature of his work; 100 meters of dyed green and blue cotton-linen – blend, cut, divided, torn, sewn and overlaid – are returned in a time dimension that is mutated and extended, covering a span of two years of work. The different units that overlap the installation, with a dynamic and modular trend, have different histories; some were already in the artist’s studio whilst others were executed recently. They all illustrate a rigorous and mechanical work method, where the irregularities are the detail, the raw cuts are frayed and the threads purposefully hang down to break a routine characterised by an extremely controlled practice.
The work is imposingly presented to inhabit the spaces of the restaurant for which it was
specifically designed and cannot be perceived as decoration. The different levels of
layering and the lively rhythmic progression of the units are recognisable and can be appreciated by passers-by too.
L’ultimo pasto è una coppa di ramen can be seen until the end of March 2023.
Hermann Bergamelli (1990) was born in Bergamo, where he still lives and works. He graduated in 2016 in New Technologies for the Arts from the Academy of Bergamo and received a Scholarship in 2018 at Central Saint Martins in London. Recent exhibitions of his include the solo show Electro Glide in Blue curated by Irene Sofia Comi at A+B Gallery, the installation intervention for Ricominciare dal Silenzio Festival, Milan Porta Garibaldi railway pass, the group show 15-The Waiting Hall at A+B gallery, Brescia; I’ll be Home Tonight at The House, Milan; the solo show Tòtòc at Rehearsal in Milan; and the participation in the ArtDate festival with The Blank Contemporary Art in Bergamo.