Exhibitions and Events

Interi Announces The Crucifix Collection Exhibition with The Museo de’ Medici

March 23rd - April 21st, 2024

Interi's Crucifix Collection

Interi will be premiering The Crucifix Collection, an exhibition presenting 17th and 18th century Italian crucifixes transformed into works of art, at the Museo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy on March 23rd. Jean O’Reilly Barlow, the artist and creative director of Interi, has collected several original 17th and 18th century fragmented crucifixes from historical churches throughout Italy. 

"With Easter approaching, many can appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship that went into each ecclesiastical artifact. Once works of art that graced churches throughout Italy, these pieces were used as depictions to ornately articulate the beauty of the gospel story. Over time, the crosses and crucifixes became too distressed and were deemed beyond restoration. But the artifacts still hold significance and history in each detail.”  Each 17th and 18th century Italian crucifix has been preserved and transformed with rare minerals from all over the world. The minerals adorn the broken aspects of the artifacts, looking as though each piece evolved together over time and creating contemporary sculptures of old and new.

"Through passion and preservation, the figurative elements represent a powerful message of redemption and transformation – not just in a literal sense of what each symbol has come to represent, but also in metaphor,” says Barlow. “The ecclesiastical fragments that were once broken have been restored into a new sculptural work. Through contemporary interpretations and natural specimens, each historical artifact transforms into something even more beautiful than before, capturing the message of Easter."

The exhibition will premiere on March 23rd at 6:30 pm at the Museo de’ Medici and will close April 21st. The Museo de' Medici is located in the monumental Rotonda Brunelleschi which was designed in 1432 and built by Filippo Brunelleschi, a famous Italian architect who also built the Florence dome and who is also considered a founding father of Renaissance architecture. The Museo de’ Medici is devoted to preserving the history of the Medici family and exhibiting precious collections of works of art, historical relics, original documents, faithful reconstructions and multimedia installations.

To view available pieces from the collection, click here.

 

Interi Presents Spolvero: Fresco Prints Past and Present with Florence University of the Arts

August 3rd - September 20th, 2023

 

Interi's Spolvero Collection
 
Interi will be premiering Spolvero: Fresco Patterns Past and Present, an exhibition presenting the history and art of spolvero, at Corridoio Fiorentino this Thursday, August 3rd. The exhibition is in collaboration with Florence University of the Arts and will run until September 20th. It will be open to students and the public. Barlow has worked with the university’s curation students to put the exhibition together. Through this event, Interi will collaborate with FUA-AUF toward its mission to “promote and renew creative disciplines in a city renowned for its history-changing innovations” as the collection mimics the university’s vision to “deeply understand the principles of the past and how they are present in today's context.” 
  
Jean O’Reilly Barlow, the artist and creative director behind Interi, has collected several original 18th and 19th century spolvero prints that were used to create fresco designs and wall art in historical, prestigious homes and buildings in Italy. She has now used the prints to create works of art through transferring the prints onto canvas through the giclée method.
 
   
“These spolvero prints have become works of art in their own right,” says Barlow. “These were once used to create frescos in a palazzo or beautiful building throughout Italy. Now I present this collection of limited edition spolvero prints so that people can have their own fresco pattern in their own homes.”
 
Interi Spolvero
 
Spolvero is an artistic method of transferring a design from a print to the prepared surface of a canvas, panel, or wall. Holes are punched along the outlines of the original design followed by "pouncing" which is the application of powdered pigments that leaves a series of dots to create the tracing for the piece. This is then placed over the surface to be painted. This technique was initially developed in order to replicate recurring patterns or create frescoes and paintings. It was widely used in the 15th century during the Renaissance and many famous Italian artists used this technique including Leonardo Da Vinci. He even used this method to create The Mona Lisa.
 
Interi now presents the spolvero prints in two forms - displaying the originals and also showing the prints transferred onto canvas and framed with antique wood moldings and precious gems. The limited edition canvas prints are available to purchase through the gallery. “Through presenting the collection, the pieces continue to preserve the history and significance of this Renaissance technique while also creating works of art to grace any wall or space,” says Barlow.
 

Interi Presents The More Than a Fragment Exhibition with St. Mark's English Church

July 26th at 6 pm

Interi's More Than a Fragment

Interi founder and former Irish top model, Jean O’Reilly Barlow, will be hosting a pop-up exhibition titled More Than a Fragment at St. Mark's English Church on July 26th. Barlow, who goes by the artist name, Interi, will exhibit her collection of 17th and 18th century Italian church artifacts preserved and transformed into works of art back in the 15th century palazzo that was converted into the church. The exhibition will be centered on Interi’s More Than a Fragment initiative.

More Than a Fragment uses Barlow’s art to raise awareness about the realities of exploitation and uses a portion of profits from her work to fund restoration programs for survivors. About eight years ago, after hearing from her daughters about the devastating reality of modern-day slavery, Barlow saw a
correlation between her art and the people affected and wanted to use her art as a form of activism.

“Through my work, I preserve 17th and 18th century fragment artifacts that have gone beyond restoration and were discarded from historic Italian churches. I then transform them into sculptural art through natural specimens, artistic methods, and contemporary interpretations,” says Barlow. “Like the artifacts, there are also millions of people who see no future for themselves, feeling worthless with no value.”


The modern world currently faces a slavery epidemic where 50+ million people are enslaved (Source: International Justice Mission). Of those millions of people, 71% are women and girls, many of whom are being forced into the trafficking industry (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). In order to take part in the fight against modern-day slavery, Barlow started More Than a Fragment. Interi’s initiative teams up with an organization that advocates on survivors’ behalf: International Justice Mission. IJM seeks to raise awareness about the realities of human trafficking while restoring victims to wholeness. Barlow’s oldest daughter, Joybelle Christmus, is currently a project management lead for IJM’s North America Strategic Partnerships. She hopes to be able to use her art to push this mission forward alongside her daughters.

 


"My desire is that the fragment sculptures can artistically articulate that there is beauty behind brokenness,” says O’Reilly Barlow. Interi means “whole” in Italian and through the precious gems and natural specimens, we are making a piece whole again. These precious artifacts remind me that what is deemed as insignificant and broken is not beyond restoration, but can be transformed into something much more beautiful than before. It’s just like us, we are all made more beautiful in and not in spite of trials and tribulation. But we must be willing to offer others that hope and Interi’s mission and vision is to do just that."

The event will take place on July 26th in the sanctuary of St. Mark's English Church at 6 pm. The pieces exhibited willbe available for purchase and 15% of the proceeds will go towards International Justice Mission. To learn more about Interi’s initiative, go to
https://interionline.com/pages/more-than-a-fragment. 
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Interi Presents The Florence Collection with Florence University of the Arts

June 23rd - August 3rd, 2022.

Florence flood of 1966

Interi is set to premier a major exhibition of historic fragment artifacts found from the infamous Florence flood with Florence University of the Arts this summer. The exhibition will take place at FUA's gallery showcasing Interi's Florence Collection. This collection is made up of carefully curated and created sculptures from the collection of historic fragment artifacts found from the flooding of the Arno in 1966. This particular flood was the worst recorded since the Renaissance. After days of severe and heavy rainfall, the Arno River flooded and submerged the Tuscan streets. Along with the thousands of masterpieces of art and rare books, tons of mud and rubble severely damaged or destroyed the artifacts in the very churches they adorned.
Years ago, Barlow began to take interest and buy these fragments out of her own fascination. Now, she has great difficulty finding any more. The collection of distressed ecclesiastical relics have been preserved and transformed by Barlow using rare natural specimens from all around the world to create historic yet contemporary sculptural works. By incorporating the rare minerals, it looks as though the pieces evolved together over time.
“Each one has been recreated and reveals a new interpretation,” says Barlow. “What was submerged and stripped of its color and meaning still retains its history and beauty. What was weathered and worn is now reimagined and reborn. What was lost is now found.”
The exhibition will premiere on June 23rd at the Corridoio Fiorentino gallery of Italian international university, Florence University of the Arts and will run until August 3rd. It will be open to students and the public. Barlow will also collaborate with students and guest lecture during the duration of the exhibition. To find out more about the event, email us at info@interionline.com.