On show here at Santo Ficara's large, airy gallery is the witty work "Mokka" a mosaic panel consisting of white sugar and brown coffee cubes that define the oriental silhouette of the city itself. This is a small echo of his monumental 1988 installation "The Wailing Wall" which replicated the famous archaeological structure in Jerusalem with eerie authenticity, despite the fact Mondino constructed it of giant blocks of 'torrone' (nougat). 

Continuing the sweet theme in the current show is a work depicting a large juicy bunch of grapes set on a dazzling background of gold hearts, entirely composed of chocolates wrapped in brilliant foil papers. The optical illusion is that from a distance, the surface appears flush. Eccentric, colourful touches like these, have created a celebratory quasi mystical ambience in Santo's gallery. Dried flowers in saffron and poppy red are strewn on the floor in front of a swami's portrait and a (dare I say it) 'beautiful' chandelier hangs from the ceiling with a fringe of sapphire blue prisms which turn out to be common BIC pen tubes. 
 
 
 

Diversions aside, the solid core of the exhibition rests on easel paintings and ink sketches portraying people in hebrew costume and from the more exotic muslim countries that demonstrate Mondino's ease with drawing the human figure. 
Born in Torino in 1938, Mondino studied art in Paris where he attended courses in mosaic given by Severini. He became a friend of Tancredi, Jouffroy, Erro, Lebel, Matta and Lam. In the groovy Italy of the 1960's Mondino collaborated with the galleryist Gian Enzo Sperone and exhibited widely in the country's major galleries. Mondino won international acclaim with his large work Mytologies Quotidiennes shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Paris in 1976. More recently, Mondino has been featured at the Birla Academy in Calcutta and the Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento.