Dizygotic Twins, ballpoint on paper, 23.8 x 33cm.

Alberto Repetti’s new exhibition, Birorama: Real and Irreal Landscapes, currently on at the Coningsby Gallery, is certainly genre-defining. Upon entering the exhibition, the viewer is surprised to discover that the artworks are, in fact, drawn using nothing but an ordinary biro pen. The monochromatic drawings are united through a skilled use of the ballpoint technique, with which the artist brings to life forms convoluted and undistorted, irreal and real. Repetti successfully blurs the boundaries between the loyal imitation of landscape and the unbridled seduction of imagination which has led to the creation of a series of eye-pleasing and multifarious shapes and elements. Some of the works are large scale, and many are ‘Biroscapes’, a term coined by the artist to refer to A6-sized landscape drawings using a ballpoint pen.

The First Door, ballpoint pen on cardboard, 40 x 51cm

Many artists…