WHAT

The exhibition marks the first presentation in Hong Kong since the Barbarigo’s passing in 2018 at 97 years old. It includes 22 works from the late 1960s and 1970s that were kept in the artist’s Venetian home for nearly 50 years, which are recently restored and exhibited for the first time. The subject of chairs is a prominent feature in Barbarigo’s practice, and her portraits of chairs capture the energy of the unseen, allowing the artist access to deeper emotions.

WHY

The artist’s expressive works give body to the energy surrounding the chairs at the cafés on the public squares in Venice or Paris, where she loved to sit for hours observing people. It was through chairs that she was able to capture the essence of their sitters. Using drips, strokes and colours, the complexities and possibilities of human nature are revealed.