miart 2018 | The Present Has Many Stories

Pavilion 3 of Fieramilanocity will host miart 2018, the twenty-third edition of the international exhibition of modern and contemporary art of Milan, from 13 to 15 April 2018 (12 April press preview, VIP preview and vernissage by invitation). The event is organised by Fiera Milano under the artistic direction of Alessandro Rabottini, with the support of Intesa San Paolo as the main sponsor.  

This new edition of miart confirms the results achieved in recent years and marks a coming of age. Artistic director Alessandro Rabottini aims to strengthen miart’s distinctive formula and to explore and deepen its potentials. miart is a fair that looks at the present in its multiple dimensions, such as the historical roots of today's experimentation. The dialogue between modern art, contemporary art and limited edition design, the most extensive chronological offer by an Italian art fair - with works ranging from the early 20th century to the most recent international experiences - and the ever-increasing quality of exhibitors and professionals from around the world, have turned the miart formula into a successful model, where the strength of the market aspects merges with the research components. This model has contributed to the contemporary status of Milan as an international capital of creativity recognised by dealers, collectors, curators, artists, institutions and the general public.

miart 2018 presents 186 international galleries (6% more than 2017; 61 out of the 186 participating in the fair for the first time, that is 32% of the total) representing a broad qualitative sweep of modern and contemporary art and limited edition design.

The number of foreign galleries participating in this year’s Milan fair has risen to 71 - 41% of the total - from 19 countries besides Italy (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Romania, Spain, South Africa, United States, Switzerland, Turkey, and Hungary).    

The many galleries at miart for the first time include international names such as Andersen’s Contemporary (Copenhagen), Thomas Dane Gallery (London - Naples), Dvir Gallery (Tel Aviv - Brussels), Gagosian (New York - Los Angeles - San Francisco - London - Paris - Rome - Athens - Geneva - Hong Kong), Kalfayan Galleries (Athens), Peter Kilchmann (Zurich), Edouard Malingue (Hong Kong - Shanghai), Projectesd (Barcelona), Almine Rech (Paris - Brussels – London - New York), Rodeo (London), Studio Trisorio (Naples), and Amanda Wilkinson (London).  

Many major international galleries are back again after having participated in previous editions including A Arte Invernizzi (Milan), A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro), Alfonso Artiaco (Naples), Bortolami (New York), Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi (Berlin), Campoli Presti (London – Paris), ChertLüdde (Berlin), Clearing (Brussels – New York – Brooklyn), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano – Beijing – Les Moulins – Havana), Monica De Cardenas (Milan – Lugano – Zuoz), Raffaella Cortese (Milan), Massimo De Carlo (Milan – London – Hong Kong), Gladstone Gallery (New York – Brussels), Rodolphe Janssen (Brussels), Kaufmann Repetto (Milan – New York), König Galerie (Berlin – London), Andrew Kreps Gallery (New York), Galerie Emanuel Layr (Vienna – Roma), Galerie Lelong (Paris – New York), Mai 36 (Zurich), Giò Marconi (Milan), Meyer Riegger (Berlin – Karlsruhe), Massimo Minini (Brescia), P420 (Bologna), Galerija Gregor Podnar (Berlin), Lia Rumma (Naples – Milan), Richard Saltoun (London), Sprovieri (London), T293 (Rome), Vistamare - Vistamare Studio (Pescara – Milan), Galerie Jocelyn Wolff (Paris), and Zero… (Milan).  

A significant contingent of galleries actively promote modern and post-war art, including prestigious names such as Cardi (Milan - London), Cortesi (Lugano - London - Milan), Galleria dello Scudo (Verona), Grossetti Arte (Milan), Ernst Hilger (Vienna), Mazzoleni (Turin - London), Montrasio Arte (Milan - Monza), Repetto Gallery (London), Robilant + Voena (Milan - London - St. Moritz), Gian Enzo Sperone (Sent - New York), Studio Marconi (Milan), Tega (Milan), Tornabuoni Arte (Florence - London - Milan - Paris), and Michael Werner (New York - London).  

miart is also the only Italian fair to include a section dedicated to limited edition design. This year the Object section will see the participation of influential international galleries, including Ammann Gallery (Cologne), Atelier Jespers (Brussels), Elisabetta Cipriani Wearable Art (London), Galerie Rossella Colombari (Milan), Luisa Delle Piane Gallery (Milan), Dimoregallery (Milan), Erastudio Apartment Gallery (Milan) and Galleri Feldt (Copenhagen).  

#miartgalleries  

“miart is a special opportunity to create a culture within a business platform for professionals and enthusiasts - said Fabrizio Curci, CEO of Fiera Milano. “Year by year, it is growing in numbers but above all as a witness to the strategy made by Fiera Milano. It has thus become an unmissable opportunity for Italian and foreign collectors who come to Milan to find a selection of galleries that make it distinctive on the international trade fair scene. miart shows Fiera Milano’s ability to put on quality art world events: a know-how that in addition to Milan, also finds expression in South Africa, with the Cape Town Art Fair."  

This is the first year in which Intesa Sanpaolo is supporting miart as main sponsor. Internationality, excellence and a focus on the cultural development of the local area are values ​​shared by Fiera Milano and the Bank, and that, through the synergy applied to miart 2018, will help to consolidate the importance of Milan on the national and international scene, providing a further driver of the community’s economic, cultural and civil growth and development.  

Michele Coppola, Head of Art and Culture at Intesa Sanpaolo, commented: “For the first time we are miart’s main sponsor and we will be so in a new way, thanks also to the partnership with an Italian artist included in our collection. Intesa Sanpaolo has always been a leading promoter and supporter of the most important cultural initiatives. Our presence at miart renews the bank’s commitment to work alongside the main organisations that promote Italy’s artistic heritage. This is particularly so in Milan in the context of the intense cooperation with public institutions that distinguishes our Culture Project. The Gallerie d’Italia (Galleries of Italy) section with the “Cantiere del ‘900” (20th century worksite) testifies to our commitment to promoting knowledge of the art of the last century in harmony with the identity of miart and its recognised international dimension.”

miart is divided into six sections: Established, which includes 126 exhibitors (5% more than in 2017) divided between Contemporary (79 galleries specialising in contemporary art) and Master (47 galleries offering artists in their historical contexts with works from the early 20th century to the 1990s; Emergent, dedicated to 20 international galleries focusing on the work of emerging artists, of which 13 are exhibiting for the first time; Generations, which has eight pairs of galleries that facilitate a dialogue between two artists of different generations; Decades whose 9 galleries create a journey through the 20th century, scanning each decade; On Demand, a cross section whose galleries display context-based and site-specific works - such as installations and wall paintings, commissions, and performances, etc. - that to exist need to be "activated" by their owners; and finally, Object, dedicated to a selection of 14 galleries that promote contemporary design objects created in limited edition.  

”miart has come up with a formula that the Italian art scene, national and international galleries, collectors from various continents and the public and private institutions of Milan can identify with and support,” said Alessandro Rabottini, Artistic Director of miart. He continued: “The 2018 edition is the result of this team work, of a multiplicity of voices that represent an enormous richness and plurality of visions. Ours is a complex era that requires as much in the way of historical memory as imagination regarding the present and future, and it is this diversity and inclusion that many international galleries present at miart offer our audience. Many leading galleries are at miart for the first time in 2018, while many other have for many years chosen Milan as an international stage. This is a sign of trust and continuity to which we have decided to respond by consolidating the fair format and with the expansion of our vision.”  

"Milan Art Week will light up the city and, as of Monday 9 April, there will be dozens events and opportunities to visit, learn, and explore the many worlds and different languages of modern and contemporary art, for the people of Milan and for anyone visiting our city on the occasion of the fair,” said Culture Councillor Filippo Del Corno. He continued: “I am sure that the reputation earned by Milan in recent years in the international arena, as a hub of contemporary creativity, will be further enhanced by the richness of the artistic offerings of Art Week and by this new edition that revolves around an increasingly rich and prestigious fair.” A fair that combines its, “market related aspects with those connected to the research process, curated by Alessandro Rabottini and with the participation of museum directors, experts and curators from around the world,” Councillor Del Corno concluded.  

The City of Milan and miart 2018 are continuing the close partnership initiated in recent editions with all the main organisations working to promote modern and contemporary art in the city and that embody the vibrancy and cultural diversity of Milan.  

miart is once again at the forefront of Milan Art Week and of the rich programme of events, openings and performances involving public institutions, private foundations and galleries, and non-profit spaces over the entire week of the fair. From Monday 9 April, every day will see inaugurations, openings and special visits to exhibitions and projects, such as (among others) Matt Mullican and Eva Kot’átková at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Post Zang Tumb Tuuum.Art Life Politics: Italy 1918-1943 at the Prada Foundation in Milan, Torbjørn Rodland at the Observatory Prada Foundation, Teresa Margolles at the PAC Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative. But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa at the GAM Gallery of Modern Art, the eleventh edition of the Triennale Design Museum, Albrecht Dürer and Italiana. Narrating Italian History through Fashion at Palazzo Reale, Frida Kahlo at MUDEC, Giosetta Fioroni and the Acacia Prize at the Museum of the 20th Century, Sol LeWitt at the Carriero Foundation, Jimmie Durham at the  Adolfo Pini Foundation, Kimsooja at the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, The Szechwan Tale. China, Theatre and History at FM Centre for Contemporary Art, Barry X Ball at the Sforzesco Castle and at Villa Panza and many other events still in preparation.  

The language of performance has become a nucleus within the Milan Art Week programme through the many events related to the activities organised by public and private institutions: unmissable appointments with the great names of contemporary art such as Christian Marclay for the Furla Foundation at the Museum of the 20th Century as part of Furla Series 01, Teresa Margolles at the PAC, Marcello Maloberti at GAM, Guido van der Werve at FuturDome and Will Benedict at San Paolo Converso.  

Two new events at Milan Art Week 2018: ART NIGHT NO PROFIT SPACES, on Saturday 14 April and the extraordinary opening of galleries in Milan on Sunday 15 April. For the first time an entire evening will be devoted to inaugurations, performances and events specially organised by non-profit and design spaces like Assab One, [.BOX] Video Art Project Space, Cabinet, Dimora Artica, Edicola Radetzky, FuturDome, Mars-Milan Artist Run Space, Marsèlleria, Mega, Standards, t-space, and The Lift, which with their lively programming and research and experimentation have carved out an increasingly important role in the artistic and cultural life of the city.  

Finally, the PRISMA performance at the Triennale Art Theatre on Wednesday April 11 and Thursday April 12 features prominently in this evening schedule. This event is a collaboration between choreographer Alessandro Sciarroni and video artists Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza and Iacopo Bedogni), which is conceived as a final development of the miart 2018 communication campaign, launched in September last year and created by Alessandro Sciarroni, Masbedo and photographer Alice Schillaci, under the artistic direction of Mousse Agency. For the first time within the communication strategy of the fair, art will communicate art through a dialogue between dance, photography and video art. PRISMA not only draws together a variety of creative languages, but is also the result of a partnership between several institutions, including the Triennale Art Theatre, the production company for film artists In Between Art Film, the experimental productions association Snaporazverein and the artistic creation and production centre Centrale Fies di Dro.

miart 2018 will again host all seven prize awards previously held at the last exhibition, enriched by a new team of international juries invited to assign the many awards. A prestigious list of directors and curators from internationally renowned museums will choose the winning works and artists of the Fondazione Fiera Milano “Giampiero Cantoni” Acquisition Fund - which this year is also making 100,000 euros available to buy modern and contemporary art works that will expand the Fondazione Fiera Milano collection. Of these, the Emergent Prize for the best new gallery, held in partnership with LCA Law Offices, is worth 4,000 euros; the Herno Prize, in partnership with Herno SpA, for the fourth year offers an award to the stand with the best exhibition project, this year worth 10,000 euros; Fidenza Village Prize for Generations, in partnership with Fidenza Village and Value Retail, will offer a 10,000-euro prize for the best stand in the Generations section; the On Demand Prize, in partnership with the Swiss Association Snaporazverein, provides 10,000 euros for the best presentation in the new On Demand section; the CEDIT Prize, in partnership with CEDIT, acquires a work by an emerging Italian designer - presented within the Object section - and destined for the permanent collection of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan; and finally the Milan Brera Rotary Club Prize, is a 10,000-euro purchase prize for contemporary art and young artists.  

A new cycle miartalks will accompany the three-day public opening of the fair, and in this context for the fourth consecutive year, miart is again partnering In Between Art Film – an art film and experimental video production company founded by Beatrice Bulgari. More than 40 artists, curators, museum directors, writers and international architects will be invited to take part in conversations and panel discussions around a central theme.  

Under the title "What Can We Imagine? the 2018 miartalks will explore the dimension of imagination as a force that creates and transforms reality and not as an escape from the present. We will look at whether the imagination is a universal right, or whether there are social, economic and political conditions that preclude it. Where are people free to give vent to their imaginations and are there places in the world where imagination is forbidden; how imagination can become a daily exercise, and finally, what can we imagine for a future that is already here?  

Curators: João Ribas (Deputy Director and Senior Curator, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto) and Fatos Üstek (Independent Curator, London).  

#miartalks  

The partnership with Fidenza Village has this year given birth to miarteducational, a new free mediation service that miart makes available to the public at the fair. On the www.miart.it site you can book participation in a series of guided tours, programmed according to a timetable, designed to explore the historical, artistic and curatorial content that give form to the stands hosted by fieramilanocity, with a particular focus on the Generations and Decades sections.  miarteducational has been made possible by the strengthening of the involvement of Fidenza Village, one of the 11 villages of Bicester Village Shopping Collection of Value Retail – already a partner of the Fidenza Village Prize for Generations – which is working with miart on a new initiative based on two central assumptions: the need to see art as an opportunity for individual and collective discussion and the desire to make the fair a promoter of knowledge and culture.  

Major new partners are working alongside miart 2018, supporting the 23rd edition of Milan’s modern and contemporary art fair in multiple forms.  

FLOS, an international leader in residential lighting and architecture, has joined as a technical partner of miart 2018. The three-star Michelin restaurant Da Vittorio - a miart partner since 2013 - will host a site-specific light installation. The star of the project will be Arrangements, a product that ranks somewhere between the visual arts and industrial design, created for Flos by the London-based artist and designer of Cypriot origin Michael Anastassiades. Presented in exclusive preview last April at Euroluce – Milan Furntiture Fair, Arrangements is a modular system of geometric light elements that can be combined in different ways to create multiple compositions of single chandeliers.  

The partnership with Ruinart champagne, a constant at miart since 2012, will enrich the VIP lounge with a gallery entirely devoted to the presentation of a masterpiece created by the artist selected each year by the House.  

Westin Palace Milan is hospitality partner.  

We have renewed our partnership with NAVA Press and this year the printed materials were created in partnership with Mousse.  

Finally, Sky Arte HD, the fair’s media partners since 2015, has been confirmed.