photograph courtesy Gianni Fabbri"His gaze spans the history of art and architecture, embracing subjects that blend high and low, current events and memory, the passing of life and the memories it leaves behind."
Elisabetta Barisoni
curator
Ca' Pesaro Galleria Internazionale di Arte Moderna
Gianni Fabbri - Sguardi sulla Vita, sull'Arte e sul Mondo
At Ca’ Pesaro – Galleria Internazionale di Arte Moderna, the exhibition Gianni Fabbri. Sguardi sulla Vita, sull’Arte e sul Mondo - curated by Elisabetta Barisoni - until January 25. - the drawings also presented an opportunity to renew the museum’s Project Room, now adapted to host Fabbri’s drawings and future exhibitions.
Ultima Cena di Silvio Berlusconi
free interpretation of the scenic impact of Tintoretto's Last Supper
The drawings on display were largely created in recent years but originate from Fabbri’s long experience as an architect and professor of Architectural and Urban Design at IUAV. In that academic and professional context, freehand drawing served as a crucial tool for both the interpretation of past and present architecture and the development of new design ideas. Over time, this practice evolved to include the use of collage, incorporating figures borrowed from painting and sculpture to function simultaneously as symbolic elements and spatial references.
Exhibition View
"His personal and intimate reflections on the dimensions and events of life, delivered with energy and imagination, and at times a healthy dose of irony, underscore how fundamental the utopian and visionary dimension is to architectural practice."
Elisabetta Barisoni
After concluding his academic and professional career, Fabbri’s drawings acquired a fully autonomous expressive role, becoming a means to reflect on the passing of time, personal and emotional states, the history of art - particularly the representation of the female body—and contemporary issues such as politics, religion, and environmental crises. These works form a series of - glimpses - onto life, art, and the world, often filtered through a gently ironic gaze.
Donne di Rubens sotto un Cavalcavia
inspired by the poem Le Donne di Rubens - Wislawa Szymborska
"Freehand drawing has always been my key tool, and over time
I began adding collage elements from
painting and sculpture."Gianni Fabbri
The exhibition catalogue includes a section titled - Testimonianze - in which six figures from different cultural and professional backgrounds offer brief personal interpretations of the drawings. The contributors are Alberto Ferlenga, Domenico Luciani, Giandomenico Romanelli, Giovanni Soccol, Manuel Orazi, and Renato Bocchi - together with an introduction by Elisabetta Barisoni - they underscore the multidisciplinary nature and interpretive richness of Fabbri’s work.