Servi muti

Servi muti, “silent servants” in English, depicts two blindfolded individuals each holding one end of a long, flat rectangular object. Why do these silent servants wear blindfolds? What are they doing? Why are they carrying this board? Why do they look so completely alike? This absurd sculpture by Barni leaves the spectator free to draw their own conclusions. All kinds of meanings can be found in the piece, which is another way of saying that it makes no sense in itself. Perhaps the best way to approach this work might be to look upon it while remaining as silent as the two servants, to see it simply as it is, rather than for what it might tell us?

Roberto Barni was born in 1939 in Pistoia, Italy. In 1959, he held his first exhibition of paintings. In 1963, he was granted an art scholarship from the City of Florence and exhibited his works in the Florentine gallery Numero that same year. His research focused on sculpture and painting.
A number of solo exhibitions in Italy were dedicated to his work. The artist also took part in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Florence Biennale international art festival in 1973, and the Venice Biennale in 1980, 1984 and 1988.Between 1986 and 1987, he owned a studio in New York, and numerous exhibitions were organised in the United States, including a solo show at Queens Museum. In 1985, he contributed to the exhibition of Italian art at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio. His works were also displayed in 1987 at the Avant-Garde in the Eighties exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art and an exhibition of contemporary Italian art at the Seibu Gallery in Tokyo. His graceful silhouettes are reminiscent of the works of Swiss sculptor Giacometti. He held solo exhibitions in Monaco in 2007 and 2013.