GIAN PAOLO BARBIERI: SKIN
Hosted in Milan at Spazio Montebello trenta, the exhibition “Skin by Gian Paolo Barbieri” , conceived and produced by 29 Arts In Progress, brings together a dialogue between the history of fashion and the most intimate, introspective dimension of his recent work. Alongside a curated selection of images that have marked the history of international fashion photography, the show also features unpublished works from the book “Skin” (Silvana Editoriale), offering a new perspective on his creative universe.
In this phase, Barbieri moves away from purely instantaneous sensuality and enters a more mental and meditative dimension: his images become visions, memories, dedications, and layers of cultural experience. Photography becomes a language of memory, where each shot emerges from an inner journey shaped by readings, museums, cinema, and artistic references.
Within his visual imagination, references from across centuries and disciplines coexist: the drawings of Jean Cocteau, the paintings of Paul Gauguin and Édouard Manet, the Renaissance refinement of Agnolo Bronzino, and the imaginative scenes of Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Alongside art history, literary and theatrical voices also emerge, such as Oscar Wilde, with his symbolic reinterpretations of beauty and desire.
Cinema becomes another emotional archive: the suspended delicacy of Birdy, the raw intensity of Trainspotting, and the visions of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Danny Boyle, all become fragments of an emotional atlas that resurfaces in his images.
In this visual universe, mythology and the human figure are also transformed: Narcissus, Danaë, the Minotaur, and Adam become symbolic presences, rewritten through light and memory, gradually dissolving the boundaries between reality and imagination.
“Skin” represents an essential reflection: beauty as the only guiding principle, as an absolute language. A beauty that never seeks easy provocation, but is constructed through light — the artist’s primary and ultimate tool — capable of shaping, sculpting, and bringing images to life.
Barbieri’s work is not merely to be observed: it invites the viewer into a space of “déjà vu” and inner resonance, where the experience of the observer intertwines with that of the creator. In this silent space, photography becomes a mental theatre, shared memory, and pure emotion.
“Skin by Gian Paolo Barbieri” is, ultimately, an invitation to lose oneself in beauty and to rediscover it within memory.
INFORMATION
10 -24 November 2015
Monday – Friday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Other times by appointment
Via Montebello 30, Milan