29 Arts In Progress Present Gian Paolo Barbieri - Beyond Fashion at House of Luce Ostuni

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To the master who made his mark on the history of contemporary fashion photography, House of Lucie Ostuni and The Lucie Awards dedicate “Gian Paolo Barbieri: Beyond Fashion”, a retrospective exhibition realised in collaboration with the Gian Paolo Barbieri Foundation and 29 Arts In Progress Gallery, Milan which will be on view from the 5th of July to the 31st of August 2024.

Alongside many masterworks by Barbieri, there will also be shown some previously unpublished photographs ranging from the 1960’s to the year 2000, the product of in-depth research conducted inside the artist’s archive.

Gian Paolo Barbieri managed to give a unique perspective to Italian fashion that no one had yet imagined, becoming a friend and ally to the designers who the advent of made in Italy transformed into the protagonists of a new era of costume and fashion.
At their side, Barbieri interprets the most beautiful chapter of that new reawakening.

Shown in the exhibition are intimate and spontaneous shots of models and celebrities, such as Veruschka, Naomi Campbell, Marpessa, Eva Herzigova and Monica Bellucci, Mina, Isabella Rossellini alternating with iconic photographs (including Audrey Hepburn in 1969) which Barbieri conceived of for some of the most legendary publicity campaigns for Italian and International fashion brands such as Versace, Ferrè, Vivienne Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Armani.

But the exhibition narrative also introduces the public to innovative images in terms of set design and styling, the product of the artist’s unmistakable genius: a style of photography which is ironic whilst at the same time cultured, sought after and provocative, rich with references to art history, eclectic outdoor set design in exotic locations and cinematic references echoing his early experience working at Cinecittà in Rome.

In fact, from Barbieri’s point of view, fashion without art becomes naked and empty.
The women photographed here in the exhibition free themselves for the occasion from the classic canonical poses of fashion photography, becoming spokeswomen for a new, unconventional type of elegance which reveals a more nonchalant and sensual side.

Barbieri – the 2018 winner of the Lucie Award for Best International Fashion Photographer (Outstanding Achievement in Fashion) – is always a special photographer: in his carefully studied and balanced use of lighting, through his longstanding familiarity with cinema and theatre, in the makeup and the suspended stillness of the poses.

Gian Paolo Barbieri fascinates, surprises, touches the heart and mind of the viewer. This is also the purpose of photography and, more broadly, of art.

GIAN PAOLO BARBIERI: BEYOND FASHION House of Lucie Ostuni, 5 July – 31 August 2024