OLIVO BARBIERI, SELECTED WORKS 1978-2010, CURATED BY LUCA PANARO, PALAZZO PIO, CARPI (MODENA)

OLIVO BARBIERI
selected works 1978-2010
curated by Luca Panaro
December 4, 2010 – January 9, 2011
Palazzo dei Pio, Carpi (Modena)
Opening Saturday, 4th December 2010, at 6pm
Download text The inverted Disneyland by Olivo Barbieri
Text catalogue site specific_NY 07 english

On Saturday, the 4th of December 2010, the exhibition Olivo Barbieri, Selected works 1978-2010 , curated by Luca Panaro opens at Palazzo dei Pio in Carpi.

The Renaissance Loggia of the Palazzo dei Pio houses from December 4th 2010 to January 9th 2011, a retrospective dedicated to Olivo Barbieri, an internationally acclaimed artist, who was born in 1954 in Carpi. His works have been shown at the most important museums and art galleries worldwide and this exhibition is the first solo show held in his city after 32-year career.

The exhibition presents for the first time the entire Olivo Barbieri’s filmography, twelve films starting from the wellknown series site specific_, and a new book after which is named the exhibition itself: Olivo Barbieri, Selected works 1978-2010, curated by Luca Panaro, produced by Twin-Set Simona Barbieri and Nuovagrafica, edited by Apm Edizioni, a book that retraces through fifty-one images the artist’s work. This can be outlined in four crucial moments: the European and Oriental city read through artificial light, the account of the frenetic architectonic development in China since 1989, the project site specific_ (photos and films) that narrates the forms of the contemporary city and the iconographic interpretation of museums like Uffizi, Capodimonte and Louvre.

Olivo Barbieri’s filmography encompasses site specific_ROMA 04; site specific_SHANGHAI 04; site specific_LASVEGAS 05; SEVILLA → (∞) 06, site specific_MODENA 08; Seascape#1 Night, China Shenzhen, 05; Seascape#2 Castel dell’Ovo, Napoli, 06; Rivescape# 1, Night, China Shanghai 2007; Beijing Sky (2007); 5 Colori e TWIY (2008) and Tuscany in 6 pieces (2010).

Olivo Barbieri’s films are projected on four big screens, specifically designed and set up by Santimone Comunicazione, screens which create four big light cones in the wonderful Renaissance Loggia of Palazzo dei Pio.
The staging, designed by Olivo Barbieri, reinterprets the rigorous architecture of the four Loggias producing unexpected points of view.

OLIVO BARBIERI. Short biography
Olivo Barbieri was born in 1954 in Carpi (Modena), Italy. He is considered one of the important contemporary Italian artists: internationally acclaimed, his works have been shown at the most important museums and art galleries worldwide.
After 1971 his interest in photography grew, initially concentrating his research on artificial illumination in European and Oriental cities. From 1989 onwards, he began to travel frequently to the Far East, particularly to China, of which he is attracted by the rapid transformation.
In 1993, 1995 and 1997 he took part in the Venice Biennale. In 1996 the first retrospective of his work was held at the Folkwang Museum in Essen. In the mid- 90s, he adopted a new photographic technique, allowing him to maintain his focus on only certain points of the image: the landscapes photographed, often from aboard a helicopter, thus come across as a series of scale models providing surprising and estranging visions: Olivo Barbieri seems to ask himself continually just how much reality actually exists in our system of living, or rather, just how deeply our perception is capable of comprehending that which surrounds us.
After several exhibitions in Italy and abroad, in 2003 he embarked on the site specific_ project, which involved a number of cities: Rome, Turin, Montreal, Amman, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Seville, New York, and many others. He made three films as part of the site specific_ series: site specific_ROMA 04, site specific_LAS VEGAS 05, and site specific_SHANGHAI 04. In 2005 the film site specific_ROMA 04 was presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, at the Hayward Gallery, London, and at the MART, Trento and Rovereto.
In 2005 he began work on two series of films: Seascape # and Riverscape #.
Among the exhibitions of these years we mention the one at the CCA of Montreal in 2005 and at the Bloomberg Space in London in 2006. In the same year Barbieri was also commissioned by the BIACS (the Biennial of Seville, curated by Okwui Enwezor), to make the film SEVILLA → (∞) 06.
Between 2006 and 2007 he completed his Waterfall Project. In 2008 he created the TWIY project for the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples and presented the film site specific_LAS VEGAS 05 at the SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).
In 2009 he realized site specific_MODENA 08, for the Galleria Civica Modena and presented site specific_MILANO 09 at the Triennale di Milano.
In 2010 he realized site specific_CATANIA 09, site specific_FIRENZE 09, site specific_GENOVA 09 and site specific_NAPOLI 09.
Among the books that have marked his career path can be mentioned: Virtual Truths (Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2001), Notsofareast (Donzelli, Roma, 2002), site specific_ROMA 04 (Zone Attive, Roma, 2004), site specific_LAS VEGAS 05 (Wonder, Toronto, 2005), site specific_NYC 07 (APM edizioni, Carpi, 2007), TWIY (Electa, Napoli, 2008), The Waterfall Project (Damiani editore, Bologna, 2008), Viaggi in Italia 1982-2009 (Skira, Milano, 2010).
Barbieri’s work is included in museums, in public and private art collections in Europe and in the US. His films have been screened at the most important film festivals and museums and they have won international prizes and awards.

THE PARTNERS
Olivo Barbieri, Selected works 1978-2010 is organised by the Photographic Group Grandangolo BFI and funded by the main sponsor Twin-Set Simona Barbieri and Nuovagrafica. The exhibition is also sponsored by the Council of Carpi – Office for Culture and supported by the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Carpi, the Province of Modena, the Region Emilia Romagna and by FIAF (the Italian Federation of Photographic Associations).
The technical sponsor Santimone Comunicazione has played a key role in the preparation of the exhibition. This project has also been generously supported by: Cultural Association Betta Frigieri, Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna, Unipol UGF Insurances, Litoweb.

OLIVO BARBIERI selected works 1978-2010
curated by Luca Panaro
December 4, 2010 – January 9, 2011
Palazzo dei Pio, first Loggia
Piazza Martiri 68, Carpi (Modena)
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