13 – 15 April 2018
fieramilanocity, Milan
www.miart.it
The 23rd edition of the Milano art fair grew – in comparison to the preceding show – by ten galleries. There were 184 galleries from 19 countries, presented in eight sections. Besides the established and emergent galleries and artists, two departments are particularly interesting. “Decades” offer a new view on renowned – sometimes fallen into oblivion – artists from the last century. Whereas “Generations” focuses on two artists from different periods. An occasion for artists and artworks to communicate with each other. Self-evident, this happens as well often at the “normal” booths. Another form of conversation allows the section “On Demand”, where single artists are invited to conceive one or more oeuvres for the commissioning gallery. In the following, we will present some successful outlooks and various single artworks.
In the category “Decades”, Copetti Antiquari from Udine, offered a glance into the 1920s with Käthe Kollwitz and some related artists of the same period. The Paris based Galerie Jocelyn Wolff showed for the 1970s only a single artwork by William Anastasi: Conic Section and Richard Saltoun from London asked with Jo Spence “What Can a Woman Do With a Camera?”.
Between Alicja Kwade (German sculptor with Polish origin, *1979) and Luisa Lambri (Italian photographer and filmmaker, *1969) lies only one decade of age difference. Despite the different cultural background and the use of other artistic media, the works of both harmonised formally very well at the booth of the König Galerie (Berlin, London) and the Thomas Dane Gallery (London, Naples). More distant generations met at the stand of the Galleria Tega (Milan) and Car Drde (Bologna). Based on pictures by Achille Perilli (*1927, Rome) Joseph Montgomery (*1979, Northampton, USA) created a series of paintings. Although the style and technique of both artists are divers, the glance to the older one is evident in Joseph Montgomery’s work, especially with regard to his former oeuvre.
Even in the section “Established Contemporary” different generations met. The Gladstone Gallery (New York, Brussels) confronted black-and-white photos by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 – 1989) to the garishly coloured sculptures by Ugo Rondinone (*1964). Much less contrasting were the pictures by Stuart McKenzie (*1959) and the hairpieces by Christophe de Rohan Chabot (1986) at the “Emergent” gallery TG (Nottingham, GB). Edel Assanati (London) framed Jodie Carey’s (*1981) installation with photos of the almost coeval Noémie Goudal (*1984). In the same section, Gallleriapiù (Bologna) presented the American Ann Hirsch (* 1985) with the Romanian artist collective Apparatus 22 (founded in 2011).
As part of the “Established Master” Studio Gariboldi (Milan) put several artists – partly from the same period, partly from farer times – vis-à-vis in couples. Laura Grisi’s “Spiral light” (1968-69) stood beside Gastone Novelli’s “Il fare della luna” (1964); the “Mobylette Peugeot” (1972) by César was posed in front of “La danse de jouets” (1960) by Pinot Gallizio and a dotted sculpture by Yayoi Kusama (1982) ahead of Key Hiraga’s “Mr. K.” (1971).
Whereas the oeuvre by Ciprian Muresan had to stand on its own at Éric Hussenot (Paris) in the category “On Demand”. Other galleries from the established categories presented single artists: Robilant + Voena (London, Milan, St. Moritz) installed various works by Pietro Consagra and Il Ponte (Florence) gave with Mauro Staccioli insights to the “Spazio segnato”. The emerging Gallery Antoine Ertaskiran (Montreal) presented Julia Dault in a solo show. In the same section, Dittrich & Schlechtriem (Berlin) displayed pillars and balls by Nicola Martini.
Moreover, there were interesting outlooks at booth with several different artists. Rodeo (London) mixed paintings and sculptures by James Richards, Haris Epaminonda, Christodoulos Panayiotou and Shahryar Nashat. The Otto Gallery (Bologna) brought Urs Luethi, Eliseo Mattiacci, Paolo Icaro, Giuseppe Spagnulo and Marco Gastini. At Vistamare and Vistamare Studio (Pescara, Milan) the works by Joseph Kosuth, Rosa Barba and Bethan Huws penetrated each other.
Some more visual impressions:
