Gallerie d'Italia - Turin hosts Olivo Barbieri’s great photography

Intesa Sanpaolo opens to the public at the Gallerie d'Italia - Turin the exhibition “Olivo Barbieri. Spazi Altri” (“Olivo Barbieri. Other Spaces”): curated by Corrado Benigni, the exhibition is dedicated to one of the most innovative and original photographers, whose images oscillate between the real and the representation of the real, between imagined and reproduced worlds.

The exhibition represents a new chapter in the "La Grande Fotografia Italiana" (Great Italian Photography) project, curated by Roberto Koch, with which Intesa Sanpaolo has been celebrating Italy's great masters of 20th century photography since 2022.

Over 150 works are on display: large triptychs, polyptychs and two large paintings, offering for the first time an organic summary of Olivo Barbieri's research on China from 1989 to 2019, with many previously unpublished photographs.

It is an in-depth look at the transformation that has taken place in the People's Republic of China, of which Barbieri captures the polarities and contrasts between clear antitheses: frenzy and emptiness, post-modernity and antiquity.

Selective focus and recording from a helicopter have made Olivo Barbieri recognisable worldwide for his ability to transform the image of reality into a model, a mock-up, a world in design.

The exhibition has been organised under the patronage of the Piedmont Region and the City of Turin.

The Turin museum – along with those of Milan, Naples and Vicenza – is part of Intesa Sanpaolo's Gallerie d’Italia museum project.

Open to the public from 20 February to 07 September 2025.

For information, please visit the Gallerie d'Italia website.