Gian Paolo Barbieri: Beyond Fashion

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Alongside many masterworks by Barbieri, there will also be shown some previously unpublished photographs ranging from the 1960’s to the year 2000, the product of in-depth research conducted inside the artist’s archive.

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.

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.

5 July – 31 August 2024