Olivo Barbieri: Time Space Geometry

Aerial Vistas and Distorted Realities

Borusan Contemporary at Perili Kiosk has opened Time Space Geometry, a survey that runs until mid-August 2027. Spanning from September 2026 through August 2027, this presentation marks the first dedicated solo showcase in Turkey for Olivo Barbieri. For over forty years, the Italian photographer has turned his lens skyward, capturing urban grids, geological formations, and heritage landmarks from elevated positions. By manipulating depth of field and employing specialised optical filters, Barbieri systematically destabilises our conventional reading of terrain. What we recognise as sprawling metropolises or rugged mountain ranges are rendered as scaled-down dioramas, their textures softened until they resemble architectural models or synthetic environments.

Compressing History and Geography

The current installation gathers material across five distinct project groups developed throughout his career. Alongside the eponymous body of work, visitors encounter selections from site specific_, The Waterfall Project, Alps – Geographies and People, and Capri. Each collection interrogates the boundary between organic topography and human intervention. The newly commissioned photographs, created exclusively for the institution's holdings, document nine archaeological centres across Anatolia. Sites such as Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Hierapolis, and Laodikeia are stripped of their temporal markers, allowing classical ruins to merge seamlessly with modern visual culture. Meanwhile, the site specific_ portfolio transforms metropolitan layouts in Rome, Los Angeles, Brasília, and Istanbul into flattened geometric studies. Natural spectacles feature prominently in The Waterfall Project, which examines how hydrological features are increasingly mediated by tourism and engineered infrastructure.

The Architecture of Perception

Barbieri's methodology deliberately fractures the illusion of objective documentation. His compositions refuse to anchor the viewer in a single vantage point, instead prompting reflection on how technological mediation alters collective memory. When a coastal ridge is reduced to a graphic plane, or when an amphitheatre dissolves into intersecting lines, the photograph ceases to function as mere record. It becomes an active participant in shaping spatial understanding. This conceptual framework resonates particularly strongly within Perili Kiosk, a historic structure layered with its own architectural narratives. The gallery space encourages a parallel investigation into how environments shift once translated through glass and light. Does an image preserve geography, or does it inevitably rewrite it?

Through sustained formal experimentation, the artist demonstrates that scale and orientation are never fixed. The elevated perspective generates both detachment and unexpected closeness, inviting audiences to examine how cultural conditioning dictates what we choose to see. As the exhibition unfolds across these varied geographical and thematic territories, it ultimately positions the act of observation as a complex journey through time, representation, and constructed reality.