Industrial materials, measured and displaced, become a way of thinking space.
Gerard Fernández Rico is a contemporary artist whose practice originates in graffiti and in his early engagement with abandoned industrial environments. His work focuses on the investigation of industrial materials and structural systems, exploring the relationship between function, measurement, and space. Through processes of transformation and decontextualization, he develops an austere and precise visual language. His work has been shown internationally and is held in institutional collections.
Gerard Fernández Rico (b. Barcelona, Spain)
Gerard Fernández Rico is a contemporary artist whose practice is rooted in graffiti and shaped by an early and sustained engagement with abandoned industrial environments. Disused factories, peripheral zones, and non-productive architectures formed his first sites of action and observation, establishing a lasting relationship with materials stripped of function yet charged with aesthetic potential. These contexts continue to inform his work, which centers on the transformation of industrial materials and the systems—both visible and hidden—that structure the built environment.
Fernández Rico approaches his studio as a laboratory for research and experimentation. Working with materials such as epoxy resins, fluorescent lights, automotive paints, glass, and structural elements, he removes them from their original utilitarian purpose and reconfigures them through processes of trial and error. Measurement, scale, and spatial awareness play a central role in his practice, where dimensions often become titles and space itself is treated as an active component of meaning. By suspending functionality, his work allows form, color, density, and presence to take precedence, generating a precise and restrained visual language.
His work subtly articulates a critical stance toward the normalized misuse of materials, the acceptance of inefficient systems, and the persistence of structures that no longer function. Through careful material decisions and controlled interventions, Fernández Rico proposes an alternative way of looking—one that brings attention to what is usually overlooked, industrial, or considered purely functional.
He studied Arts Applied to the Wall at the Massana Art and Design Center in Barcelona and completed his early training in drawing and painting at El Taller (with Pere Llobera) and Bosch-Cavedo. His work has been widely exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Spain and internationally, including presentations at major art fairs in Europe and the United States. His work is part of the collections of the Vila Casas Foundation and the Can Framis Museum.
