The works of
Barbieri will be hosted at the new headquarters of Zurich Italy and Zurich Bank at Via Santa Margherita 11, Milan, in the heart of the city and adjacent to the prestigious Teatro alla Scala.
At the intersection of the international financial district and the fashion quarter, the new building reflects Zurich’s commitment to being at the centre of Milan’s economic and cultural dynamics, with a prestigious and sustainable representative office.
This collaboration is born from a shared vision that characterises both Barbieri’s art and Zurich’s mission: the pursuit of excellence and the commitment to protect what moves us, inspires us, and defines us.
With an unmistakable style, Barbieri invites us to view the world through his lens. His images celebrate the intrinsic beauty of his subjects, transforming fleeting moments into compelling narratives.
Audrey Hepburn in Valentino Vogue Italia Roma, 1969 © Gian Paolo Barbieri / Courtesy of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery
Manuela Bottega, Head of Communication, Brand and Advertising at Zurich Italy, stated:
''Barbieri constructs an experience that transforms a single moment into something deeper, evoking a multitude of emotions in the viewer. Zurich, always committed to protecting people’s well-being, sees artistic enjoyment as an extension of this mission. The Santa Margherita space thus becomes a place where a break from the city's frenzy can be transformed into an encounter with genuine beauty.''
Alongside many of Barbieri’s renowned masterpieces, the exhibition will also present several previously unseen photographs, spanning from the 1960s to the 2000s, the result of in-depth research conducted within the Artist’s archive.
Gian Paolo Barbieri gave Italian fashion a unique face that no one had imagined before, becoming a close collaborator and companion to those designers who, with the rise of Made in Italy, became protagonists of a new era in fashion and costume.
With them, he interpreted the most brilliant season of this vibrant new wave.
The exhibition, located on the ground floor of Zurich’s building with street-level access, also presents the public with innovative images in terms of setting and styling, the result of the Artist’s unmistakable ingenuity: photography that is at once ironic, cultured, refined, and provocative, rich in references to art history, eclectic outdoor sets in exotic locations, and cinematic citations echoing his youthful experience at Cinecittà in Rome.
From his perspective, fashion without art is naked and empty.
In this exhibition, the women in Barbieri’s images abandon the canonical poses of fashion photography to embody a new, unconventional elegance that reveals their more relaxed and sensual sides.
Barbieri – recipient of the 2018 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion – is an exceptional photographer, consistently, and precisely so, thanks to his long-standing familiarity with cinema and theatre, evident in his use of makeup and the poised stillness of his compositions.
Gian Paolo Barbieri fascinates, unsettles, and touches the heart and mind of the viewer. And this, too, is the power of photography and, more broadly, of art.
Monica Bellucci for DG, 2000 © Gian Paolo Barbieri / Courtesy of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery
For over 60 years, Gian Paolo Barbieri has been one of the world’s most influential fashion photographers. His work has shaped major advertising campaigns for iconic international brands including Valentino, Gianni Versace, Gianfranco Ferré, Giorgio Armani, Bulgari, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Vivienne Westwood, and many others. His iconic, timeless images have graced the pages of Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, American Vogue, L’Officiel, GQ, and Vanity Fair for decades.
Ranked among the world’s top 14 fashion photographers by Stern magazine, Barbieri’s works are part of prestigious museum collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London, Kunstforum in Vienna, Palazzo Reale in Milan, MAMM in Moscow, Erarta Contemporary Art Museum in St. Petersburg, Musée du quai Branly in Paris, and the Nicola Erni Collection in Switzerland.
His photographs have been published in numerous acclaimed books such as Artificial (1982), Gian Paolo Barbieri (1988), Tahiti Tattoos (1989), Madagascar (1997), Equator (1999), A History of Fashion (2001), Dark Memories (2013), Skin (2015), and Fiori della mia Vita (2016).
In 2018, Barbieri was honoured in New York with the Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion. In June 2022, The Man and The Beauty, the first documentary on his life and work, won the Audience Award in the Biografilm Art & Music section at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna and was released in cinemas across Italy.
fondazionegianpaolobarbieri.it
Tatiana Savialova for Valentino 1996 © Gian Paolo Barbieri / Courtesy of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery
Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is a global leader in insurance. Founded over 150 years ago, it now serves more than 75 million customers in over 200 countries and territories, delivering shareholder returns that consistently outperform industry averages.
In line with its purpose of creating a brighter future together, Zurich offers protection solutions that go beyond traditional insurance, helping clients build resilience.
Since 2020, the Zurich Forest project has supported reforestation and biodiversity restoration in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
The Group has over 63,000 employees and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (ZURN) is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and has a Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme (ZURVY), traded over-the-counter on OTCQX.
www.zurich.com
Tribute to Edward Hopper Versace-1978 © Gian Paolo Barbieri / Courtesy of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery
29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery is a prominent photographic art gallery that represents internationally recognised photographers, including Gian Paolo Barbieri, Mario Testino, Greg Gorman, Rankin, and Michel Haddi, with a particular focus on portrait and fashion photography.
Since its inception, the gallery has curated exhibitions in partnership with major public and private museums and institutions, including the V&A Museum in London, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Palazzo Reale and Triennale di Milano, Museo delle Culture in Lugano, and the Nicola Erni Collection in Switzerland.
The gallery's co-founders and directors, Eugenio Calini and Luca Casulli, lead 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS with a vision to meet the highest standards in art photography collecting.
https://29artsinprogress.com/
Frauke Quast, Vogue Italia, Mauritius, 1983 © Gian Paolo Barbieri / Courtesy of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery
