ARCHIVES – FEBRUARY 27, 2024
29 Arts In Progress Gallery presents the exhibition entitled « Lights Up » – Photographs by Gian Paolo Barbieri and Michel Haddiin the new exhibition space «The Ramp» located in the exclusive and intimate Art and design shopping center “Gallaria Sonne” in Silvaplana, together with Nomad St. Moritz.
The exhibition presents a very innovative selection of photographs of Gian Paolo Barbieriwinner of the 2018 Lucie Prize for best international photographer (outstanding achievement in fashion). It is a style of photography that is both ironic and sophisticated, both rare and provocative, rich in references to art history, with eclectic exterior settings. Internationally recognized for his black and white photographs, his subjects seem almost inaccessible in their pointed sophistication. By using color, Barbieri tells his own personal and ironic interpretation of fashion and feminine beauty: the women photographed free themselves from the more canonical poses of fashion photography and become for the occasion the spokespersons of a new form of unconventional elegance that reveals a more nonchalant and sensual side.
The exhibition continues with some of the most exemplary images of the Franco-Algerian photographer Michel Haddi with a career spanning over 40 years, with an endless archive of famous faces, top models, icons and legends from the world of music and art. From Liza Minelli to David Bowie, from Cameron Diaz to Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie, including photos of Kate Moss and Uma Thurman.
His look is intimate, personal and non-conformist, like a large part of his career, far from that of a classic fashion photographer: after having survived a troubled childhood, during which he clung to her dream of becoming a photographer, Haddi dedicated her life to illustrating some of the key players in the historical and cultural changes of the last century with a rare ability to capture, then successfully reproduce, the deepest essence of her subjects.
Haddi, which literally translates from the Semitic language as “one who sees,” succeeded in the difficult task of accurately seeing the true nature of the subjects who posed for him in front of his lens – actors, models or ordinary people. – and to reproduce their image, sometimes with irony, sometimes with depth: all his photographs have a story to tell because they are authentic images, which play with the deepest human emotions and, precisely for this reason, become indelible.
The Ramp is intended to be a space entirely dedicated to art, with singular architectural features reinforced by important planning interventions, designed by architect Alexander Bellman of Gruppo C14 studio, who supervised the lighting installation project.
“We would immediately like to qualify “La Rampa” as an Art space, a living and breathing space, a place for disseminating the expression of the changes and transformations underway in this vital segment of culture, that is to say art, which is more than ever in balance between tradition and innovation. With a strong focus on photography as a contemporary art form undergoing extraordinary evolution, an area in which our gallery has over a decade of experience.” Eugenio Calini, 29 Arts In Progress
Gian Paolo Barbieri & Michel Haddi : Lights Up
from February 24 to March 23, 2024
The Ramp
Gallaria Sonne
Via Maistra 21
7513 Silvaplana, Switzerland
www.29artsinprogress.com
