LUCA VERNIZZI - OMAGGIO A GIORGIO ARMANI : E LE GRANDI OPERE MACROPOP

Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery is pleased to present a special exhibition dedicated to Luca Vernizzi, bringing together a poignant tribute to Giorgio Armani and the artist’s monumental Macro Pop paintings.

The exhibition takes place one year after Armani’s passing and holds particular significance in Forte dei Marmi—a place to which he remained deeply connected throughout his life.

At the heart of the exhibition is Vernizzi’s historic 1981 portrait of Giorgio Armani—the first portrait for which the legendary designer posed from life. Painted inside the newly opened Emporio Armani showroom on Via Durini in Milan, the work captures Armani at a defining moment in his career, shortly before his international rise transformed contemporary fashion.

The encounter remained deeply impressed in Vernizzi’s memory. During the sitting, Armani’s composure, reserve and natural elegance already suggested the qualities that would later earn him the title “Re Giorgio.” The portrait depicts not only the artist observing his subject, but Armani himself looking intently back at the painter—creating an unusually direct and compelling exchange of gazes.

Presented alongside this intimate portrait are Vernizzi’s monumental Macro Pop works, shown in Forte dei Marmi for the first time following their successful presentation at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.

Through dramatically enlarged depictions of ordinary objects—from keys, sunglasses and watering cans to bathrobes, fruit and household products—Vernizzi transforms the familiar into something unexpected. Removed from their usual surroundings and suspended within empty pictorial spaces, these everyday objects become portraits of contemporary life, revealing the habits, gestures and emotional attachments that shape our relationship with the material world.

The exhibition also includes a selection of twenty smaller works, offering a broader view of Vernizzi’s artistic practice and his lifelong exploration of places, objects and people.

We look forward to welcoming you to this special exhibition.

4th of September, starting 18.00  - cocktail reception in the presence of the artist

OBLONG CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY
Via G. Carducci 45
Forte dei Marmi, Italy
RSVP: fortedeimarmi@oblongcontemporary.com

The Story of the Giorgio Armani portrait: 

It was the late spring of 1981, and Giorgio Armani was forty-seven years old when Luca Vernizzi painted his portrait at the newly opened Emporio Armani showroom on Via Durini in Milan.

Vernizzi was introduced to Armani by Luciano Francesconi, a cartoonist for Corriere della Sera and a close friend of the artist. They frequently met at the historic Bagutta restaurant, a celebrated gathering place for Milanese artists and intellectuals, often sitting at the table reserved for members of the city’s cultural community.

At the time, Vernizzi had recently begun a series of portraits depicting established and emerging figures from different creative fields, including writers, designers and actors. During one of their conversations, Francesconi told him that he could introduce him to Giorgio Armani. Armani agreed to sit for the portrait and immediately arranged an appointment at the recently opened Emporio Armani headquarters on Via Durini.

Upon his arrival, Vernizzi was welcomed by the showroom’s long-serving sales assistants and accompanied to Armani’s office.

“Armani spoke very little during the first moments of our meeting. I immediately understood that this was not a lack of courtesy, but simply reflected his deeply reserved character. I guided him into the pose, which he maintained for the entire time required to complete the portrait, without moving and with extraordinary composure.

“As far as we know, no earlier portrait of Armani painted from life exists. Mine may therefore be considered the first formal portrait of the man who would later become known as ‘Re Giorgio.’

“Even then, his composure conveyed a sense of personal nobility. He relaxed only after seeing the finished portrait, with which he was extremely pleased. He complimented me on having captured his gaze exactly as he himself perceived it.”

In the portrait, Giorgio Armani wears a white T-shirt—an item that would become one of the defining elements of his personal style.

In Vernizzi’s portrait, Armani appears to enter the canvas by looking directly at the painter. He seems to lean forward as though looking into a mirror, where he is not simply a motionless figure but someone who, from within the portrait, observes those standing before him.

Throughout the sitting, there was a continuous exchange of glances between the artist and his subject. This exchange remains visible in the finished work: Armani is not presented as a passive figure. Like many people of exceptional intelligence, he appears to take in everything around him through the movement and intensity of his eyes.

It is, above all, a meeting of gazes.

In the years immediately following the portrait, Vernizzi encountered Giorgio Armani several more times in the fashionable circles of 1980s Milan—a city that was rapidly becoming one of the world’s great fashion capitals.