Per Barclay Recreates Gianluigi Colin's Studio at FPAC Milan

Per Barclay (Oslo, 1955) presents a solo exhibition at Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea (FPAC) in Milan, on view until January 28. The Norwegian artist, who lives between Turin and Oslo, transforms spaces by pouring used oil, milk, water, or blood into an aluminum basin along the room's perimeter. The show reconstructs the former studio of Gianluigi Colin, art director of Corriere della Sera's cultural insert La Lettura, where art and journalism constantly dialogued. That studio, located in the new wing of the building designed by Vittorio Gregotti overlooking the internal courtyard of Via Solferino, no longer exists after the newspaper's offices moved to Via Rizzoli. It contained memories of exhibitions, clippings, images, drawings, projects, photos of friends, and books, including depictions of Piero della Francesca's Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Lucio Dalla, Ai Weiwei (during his house arrest in Beijing), and works by Christo, Nanda Vigo, Daniel Buren, and Barclay himself. Barclay's first 'room' dates to 1989, but the Corriere project (2015) remained suspended until FPAC decided to realize it this year. The exhibition also revisits five projects FPAC has done with Barclay over fifteen years, including four in Palermo and one in Milan, focusing on Palazzo Costantino (2010), Santa Caterina (2016), and Palazzo Mazzarino (created in 2018 for Manifesta). The show dialogues between external and internal space, architecture and the inhabitant.