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28/11/2012

Olivo Barbieri

Ronchini Gallery, London

Ronchini Gallery, London is proud to present an exhibition of works by artist Olivo Barbieri from 30 November 2012 to 12 January 2013. Barbieri will unveil his first series of aerial photographs of London, as part of the latest chapter in his site specific_ series. The Italian artist has become known for his iconic take on urban spaces, photographing cities, from the vantage point of a helicopter, with a custom large format camera which allows him to carefully focus on specific areas, producing images that appear to be of miniature models.

Barbieri first developed an interest in photography in the early 1970s, focusing on artificial illumination in both European and Asian cities. His detailed images of urban spaces developed into the site specific_ series over 10 years ago. Its instantly recognisable view on cities has, to date, included Rome, Las Vegas, Shanghai, New York, Bangkok, Venice, Mexico City, Tel Aviv, Brasilia and Amman, among others. In site specific_, Barbieri reinterprets urban spaces, distancing us from the human noise and hustle and bustle, presenting them to us instead as pristine, miniature renderings. For Barbieri, it is the shape of the contemporary metropolis which interests him, rather than a literal transcription of a city.

Representing a departure in Barbieri’s style that has been happening for some years, site specific_London is far more graphic than previous projects. Barbieri has stopped using tilt shift lenses and instead has begun to reinvestigate the original idea of the project to render works which are closer to drawing. Buildings such as The Shard and St Pauls Cathedral are isolated as Barbieri explores whether architecture fits its location and how it interacts with surrounding buildings. An important aspect of the site_specific project is the perpetual shift of how places are interpreted. Barbieri explains his experience of photographing London: ‘’The texture of London from above compared to other cities looks more like a living organism. I inevitably noticed the constant throbbing of the arteries, the lines of communication, in continuous dialogue with the land and buildings and the earth.'’

Whether reworking masterpieces from the Uffizi Gallery, capturing the majestic grandeur of the world’s great waterfalls, or reinterpreting towns and cities from above in site specific_ (which also includes film, in addition to photography), Barbieri showcases both natural and manmade landscapes from his own unique viewpoint. “I always wonder if our methods of perception are actually suitable to interpret reality,” says Barbieri. “Photography is immaterial, and yet it can be as strong as a philosophical statement.” A book of Olivo Barbieri photographs from over 30 cities will be published in multiple languages by Aperture in Fall 2013.

About the artist
Born in 1954 in Carpi, Modena, Olivo Barbieri attended the Faculty of Pedagogy and the DAMS at the University of Bologna before turning his attention to photography in 1971. Originally focusing on artificial illumination in European and Oriental Cities, by the 1990s, he had developed a special technique that allows him to shrink vast urban landscapes into miniaturised model-like imagery. Showcased in his on-going site specific_ series, he has captured cities such as Rome, Amman, Las Vegas and Shanghai, among others. Barbieri’s works can be found in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Canadian Centre for architecture, Montréal, Sevile’s Centro Andaluz de arte Contemporáneo and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has exhibited at MoMA, New York; Tate Modern, London; The Wexner Center for the Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and has been the recipient of numerous awards for both his photography and film work.

About Ronchini Gallery
Ronchini Gallery is a contemporary art gallery founded by Lorenzo Ronchini in 1992, in Umbria, Italy, which expanded in February 2012 with a space in Mayfair, London. Its exhibitions have explored pioneering movements within Italy; the gallery aesthetic is defined by Minimalism, Spatialism, Conceptualism and Arte Povera and it retains an unblinking future-focus on progressive movements. Ronchini Gallery evolved from 20 years of private collecting. Paterfamilias Adriano Ronchini was an early supporter of artists such as Alighiero Boetti, Daniel Buren, Joseph Kosuth, Frank Stella and Michelangelo Pistoletto and collected their work throughout the seventies. Subscribing to the highest standards of curatorship and scholarship, the gallery provides a rigorous context in which its artists can be viewed. Ronchini Gallery also maintains a successful publishing arm which produces exhibition catalogues, monographs, critical texts and artist’s books.

For press information: Sophie da Gama Campos or Toby Kidd at Pelham Communications, +44 (0) 208 969 3959, sophie@pelhamcommunications.com or toby@pelhamcommunications.com

Preview: 29 November 2012, 6-8pm

Ronchini Gallery
22 Dering Street, London
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 10am–6pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm
Admission free

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