TURIN (ITALPRESS) – Opening to the public at Intesa Sanpaolo’s Gallerie d’Italia in Turin from Feb. 20 to Sept. 7 is the exhibition “Olivo Barbieri. Other Spaces” curated by Corrado Benigni. A look at China through the images of the great photographer Olivo Barbieri made over a period of 30 years, capturing the polarities and contrasts of a country between sharp antitheses: frenzy and emptiness, postmodernity and antiquity. Dualism that also characterizes the very art of Olivo Barbieri, one of the most innovative and original photographers, whose images oscillate between the real and the representation of the real, between imagined and reproduced worlds.
The exhibition is a new chapter in the “La Grande Fotografia Italiana” project curated by Roberto Koch, with which the bank led by Carlo Messina has been celebrating Italy’s great masters of twentieth-century photography since 2022, following Lisetta Carmi (2022, ‘Suonare fortè), Mimmo Jodice (2023, ‘Senza Tempò) and Antonio Biasiucci (2024, ‘Arcà).
Produced under the patronage of the Region of Piedmont and the City of Turin, the exhibition presents a selection of more than 150 works, including large-scale triptychs, polyptychs and two large paintings that represent an organic synthesis of the research Olivo Barbieri has devoted to China from 1989 to 2019, with many previously unpublished photographs.
“The series dedicated to the masters of Italian photography sees Olivo Barbieri as the protagonist today, with works of extraordinary grandeur and beauty that tell the story of China,” said Michele Coppola, Executive Director Art, Culture and Historical Assets of Intesa Sanpaolo. “His images, brought together for the first time in an exhibition, arouse curiosity, interest and reflections on a country undergoing profound transformations. The originality of this project confirms the leadership role of Turin’s Gallerie d’Italia in the world of photography, capable of bringing together the talent and sensitivity of important artists. This is also an opportunity to present the first catalog of Allemandi’s new course, with a book dedicated to the exceptional work of a great photographer.”
It was 1989 when Olivo Barbieri made his first trip to China, coincidentally right during the events of Tiananmen Square. Since then begins an in-depth study that for three decades regularly leads the artist to the territory of the People’s Republic of China, of whose transformation he senses from the very beginning the social, economic and cultural scope, a transition that affects all of humanity because of its impact in terms of identity, sustainability, migration, new technologies and artificial intelligence.
Selective fire and helicopter shots have made Olivo Barbieri recognizable worldwide for his ability to transform the image of reality into a model, a model, a world in design. In the works on display, far from documentary intentions, one can find all the perceptive shifts that have identified Barbieri’s work over the years: the long exposures, the artificial lighting, the vertical shots, the use of saturated colors and the selective focus that transforms the real into an avatar of itself.
The exhibition also features a series of audio content that can be downloaded through the Gallerie d’Italia app, with dedicated insights.
The exhibition will be flanked by a rich schedule of in-depth events with free admission for the traditional #INSIDE public program on Wednesday evenings. Opening the events will be a double meeting with Olivo Barbieri scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 20: at 6 p.m. the artist will talk with curators Corrado Benigni and Roberto Koch, delving into 30 years of photographic explorations dedicated to China, including transforming landscapes and unprecedented perspectives. At the end of the meeting, from 7 p.m., the artist will be available for a signacopy of the catalog dedicated to the exhibition, the first published by Società Editrice Allemandi for Gallerie d’Italia.
The purchase of the exhibition catalog will entitle visitors to a free admission ticket: an initiative aimed at enhancing the value of Italian photography and art books.
For Abbonamento Musei holders, on the other hand, there will be a 5 percent discount on the purchase of the catalog.
The Turin museum, along with those in Milan, Naples and Vicenza, is part of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Gallerie d’Italia museum project, led by Michele Coppola – Executive Director Art, Culture and Historical Assets of the Bank and General Director of the Gallerie d’Italia.
– Intesa Sanpaolo press office photo -.
(ITALPRESS).
