Olivo Barbieri (1954, Carpi – Modena)
After studying pedagogy at the University of Bologna, starting in 1971 he developed his intense interest in the photographic language. He created Flippers 1977–1978, a series on the discovery of an abandoned warehouse full of pinball machines whose images convey the imaginary of an entire epoch. In 1984 he took part in Viaggio in Italia (Bari 1984). In the early nineteen-eighties he began the series on the artificial lights of European and Oriental cities. Since 1989 he has traveled constantly in the East, especially in China, conducting research that is still in progress on themes of the major changes taking place and their representation. In 1996 the Folkwang Museum in Essen held his first retrospective.
Starting in the mid-nineties he has adopted a photographic technique that enables him to keep only certain areas of the image in focus, a method he continued to use for about ten years.
In 2003 he began the site specific_ project, involving forty different cities around the world. The site specific_series (2003–2013), Parks (2003–2015), Real Words (2008–2013), Images (1978–2007), Virtual Truths (1996–2002), and Artificial Illuminations (1980–2014) series share reflections on the quantity of reality found in our system of life, and on how our perception is capable of understanding it.
In 2015 he continues the series PARKS began in 2006, and produced the exhibition and the artist book project ADRIATIC SEA (staged) DANCING PEOPLE.
Exhibitions (selected)
2001 Notsofareast, Effetti Collaterali, Triennale di Milano
2002 Cityscapes/Landscapes, Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena
2003 Strangers, Photography and Video Triennial, International Center of Photography (ICP), New York
2004 site specific_MONTREAL 04, Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA), Montreal
2005 site specific_ROMA 04, Universal Experience, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Hayward Gallery, London; The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MaRT)
2006 site specific_, Bloomberg Space, London; Bund 18, Shanghai; participation at the 2nd Seville Biennial, production of the film SEVILLA –› (∞) 06; Spectacular City, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam
2008 TWIY, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples; site specific_LAS VEGAS 05, Double Down, Two Visions of Vegas, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Shanghai Kaleidoscope,
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
2009 site specific_MODENA 08, Galleria Civica di Modena; site specific_MILANO 09, Triennale di Milano; 2010 site specific_GENOVA 09, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa; site specific_NAPOLI 09, Museo MADRE, Naples; Dreamlands, Centre Pompidou, Paris
2011 DOLOMITES PROJECT 2010, The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MaRT), Rovereto; The Altered Landscape, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
In 2012 he showed at the Galleria Massimo Minini in Brescia and the Ronchini Gallery, London
In 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, he had expositions at the Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York
2014 Eyes on the Street, Cincinnati Museum, Cincinnati
2015 retrospective “ERSATZ LIGHTS case study #1 east west”, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia;
retrospective “Images 1978-2014”, Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo (MAXXI) Rome.
2015 he realizes the film La Città Perfetta, presented at Museo MAXXI Roma.
2016 retrospective “Images 1978-2014” Centro Cultural Recoleta Buenos Aires; ADRIATIC SEA (staged) DANCING PEOPLE Yancey Richardson Gallery New York
Alps – Geographies and People Matthew Liu Fine Art Shanghai
2018 – American Monument and Monument, Galleria Mazzoli Modena.
2019 - Terre in Movimento, Museo MAXXI Roma; MOUNTAINS and PARKS al Centro Saint-Bénin Aosta.
In 1993, 1995, 1997, 2011, and 2013 he took part in the Venice Biennale
Collections (selected)
MoMA New York; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo (CAAC), Seville; Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA), Montreal; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; International Center of Photography (ICP), New York; The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Houston; Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), Chicago; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno; MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (MAXXI), Rome; Biblioteca Panizzi, Reggio Emilia; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAM), Turin; Sondra Gilman Collection, New York; Cisneros Fontanals Foundation, Miami
Monographs and Exhibition Catalogues (Selected)
Paesaggi in Miniatura. With an essay by Olivo Barbieri. Exh. cat. Ar/Ge Kunst Galerie Museum Bolzano. Art& Udine 1991.
Notte. With an essay by Guy Mandery. Art& Udine 1991.
Olivo Barbieri Fotografien seit 1978. With an essay by Jan Thorn-Prikker. Exh. cat. Museum Folkwang. Essen, 1996.
Illuminazioni Artificiali. With an essay by Enrico Ghezzi. Motta Editore Milano 1995.
Artificial Illuminations. With an essay by Enrico Ghezzi. Smithsonian Washington D.C. 1998.
NotSoFarEast. With essays by Carmine Donzelli, and Simonetta Franceschetti. Donzelli Roma 2002.
Virtual Truths. With essays by Paola Tognon, Jon Bird, and Hubertus von Hamelunxen. Exh. cat. Galleria Gottardo Lugano. Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2001.
Paintings. Exh. cat. Galleria Isabella Brancolini Arte Contemporanea. Florence, 2002.
site specific_ROMA 04. Edited by Marco Delogu. Exh. cat. Mercati di Traiano. Roma. Zone Attive Roma 2004; site specific_LAS VEGAS 05. With essays by John Shnier, and Olivo Barbieri. Exh. cat. Galleria Brancolini Grimaldi. Rome. Wonder Inc. Toronto 2005; site specific_SHANGHAI 04. With an essay by Francesco Zanot. Editrice Quinlan Bologna 2006; site specific_NYC 07. With an essay by Luca Panaro. Exh. cat. Le Paggerie, Festival della Filosofia. Sassuolo. APM Edizioni Carpi 2007.
TWIY. With essays by Cristiana Colli, Gianluca Favetto, and Franco Farinelli, Electa. Exh. cat. Museo di Capodimonte Napoli. Electa Napoli 2008.
The Waterfall Project. With essays by Stefano Boeri, and Walter Guadagnini. Damiani Bologna 2008.
site specific_MODENA 08. Edited by Angela Vettese. With an essay by Antonello Frongia. Galleria Civica, Modena. Skira Milano 2009; site specific_MILANO 09. Edited by Roberta Valtorta. Triennale di Milano. Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2009; site specific_CATANIA 09. Edited by Walter Guadagnini. Exh. cat. Palazzo della Cultura. Catania. Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2010; site specific_FIRENZE 09. Edited by Franziska Nori. Exh. cat. Palagio della Parte Guelfa. Firenze Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2010; site specific_GENOVA 09. Edited by Francesco Zanot. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale. Genova. Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2010; site specific_NAPOLI 09. Edited by Mario Codognato. Exh. cat. Museo MADRE. Naples. Silvana Editoriale Cinisello Balsamo 2010.
Viaggi in italia 1982–2009. Edited by Sabrina Zannier. Skira Milano, 2010.
Selected Works 1978–2010. With an essay by Luca Panaro. Exh. Cat. Palazzo dei Pio, Carpi APM Edizioni Carpi 2010.
Dolomites Project 2010. Edited by Gabriella Belli. Exh. cat. Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto. Damiani Bologna 2011.
Site Specific_2003–2013. With an essay by Christopher Phillips. Aperture New York, 2013.
ALPS geographies and People. With an essay by Olivo Barbieri. Exh. cat. Yancey Richardson Gallery. New york, 2013. Danilo Montanari Ravenna 2013.
From Bunkers to Swimming Pools. With an essay by Francesco Zanot. Danilo Montanari Ravenna 2014.
ERSATZ LIGHTS case study #1 east west. With an essay by Francesco Zanot, an interview by Laura Gasparini. Exh Cat. Fotografia Europea. Reggio Emilia. Hatje Cantz Osterfildern 2015.
Images 1978-2014. With an essay by Francesca Fabiani. Exh Cat. MAXXI , Roma 2015. Marsilio editore Venezia 2015.
ADRIATIC SEA (staged) DANCING PEOPLE. Exh. cat. Yancey Richardson Gallery. New york, 2016. Danilo Montanari Ravenna 2016
Cinematography, Danilo Montanari Ravenna 2016
Italian Quakes Gibellina and Other Diseases, Danilo Montanari Ravenna 2016
American Monument and Monument, Mazzoli editore, Modena 2018
MOUNTAINS and PARKS, Magonza editore Arezzo 2019
Film Festivals and Museums (selected)
Locarno Film Festival 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; International Film Festival, Rotterdam 2004, 2006; Medien und Architektur Biennale, Graz 2005–07; Toronto International Film Festival 2005, 2006; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio 2006; New York Film Festival 2006; Sundance Film Festival 2006, 2008; San Francisco International Film Festival 2006, 2007; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley 2006, 2007; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 2007; MOMA, New York 2007; Jeu De Paume, Paris 2007; Tate Modern, London 2007; Berlin Film Festival 2007
Awards
2008 SEVILLA –› (∞) 06, Nashville Film Festival, USA
2006 site specific_LAS VEGAS 05, Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival, USA
2006 site specific_ROMA 04, Medien und Architektur Biennale, Graz, Austria
1992 Higashikawa-cho Award, Japan
1990 Premio Friuli Venezia Giulia Fotografia, Italy
