Highlights of Miart 2024, the modern and contemporary art fair in Milan

The 28th annual edition of the international art fair Miart kicked off last week for a month full of art, architecture, design and fashion in Italy’s trendiest city. With 180 galleries from 28 countries displaying more than 1,000 works of art, the Milan International Fair has a well-deserved reputation for carefully selected galleries. The fair has made a great effort to stand out among the hundreds of annual art fairs, including giant fairs like Frieze and Art Basel, by focusing on Italian galleries and making the unusual decision to have the emerging galleries, rather than the established blue chip galleries. , directly at the front of the fair.

Miart’s galleries are vetted by Nicola Ricciardi, the fair’s director, and a jury that chooses about half of the applicants. Although the focus is on Italy, they have also accepted a good range of international galleries this year, including Helena Anrather (New York), Galerie Buchholz (Cologne, Berlin), Emanuela Campoli (Paris, Milan), Fabienne Levy (Lausanne, Geneva ), Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro), Greengrassi (London) and Galerie Neu (Berlin).

For foreign visitors, Miart offers the chance to see the great Italian art galleries that make up half of the fair, plus a wide range of art events in the city. A sensational retrospective exhibition at the beautiful Rem Koolhaas-designed Fondazione Prada showcases 49 mainly sculptural works by Pino Pascali, who created so much before dying aged 32 in a motorcycle accident in 1968, the year he represented Italy at the Venice Biennale . And Pirelli HangarBicocca, a large former tire factory, is home to a monumental Anselm Kiefer installation and two temporary shows: Ground break by Nari Ward and Call and collect by Chiara Camoni.

Major items at Miart this year included works by Italian artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Lucio Fontana, Alighiero Boetti and Caribbean tea timea beautifully painted screen by David Hockney that sold for $480,000 within the first two hours of the fair opening.

One of the most memorable stands was Milan’s Galleria Raffaella Cortese with a single work of art, a bronze swing for visitors to try out. The swing, created by Francesco Arena, was available in an edition of three, all of which sold on the first day for $35,000 each.

In the Emergent section, a solo presentation by Alexis Soul-Gray was a real highlight at the Bel Ami gallery stand in Los Angeles. The British artist’s works combine painting, drawing and collage, using images from Italian Renaissance painting and advertisements idealizing family life from popular British magazines.

The Herno Prize, a prize of 10,000 euros, for the best stand at the art fair went to Galerie Buchholz (Cologne – Berlin – New York), with a well-thought-out presentation of works by Paul Thek and Isa Genzken, Lukas Duwenhögger and Lutz Bacher .

At a fair full of paintings, on the stand of the Repetto gallery in Lugano, it was good to be reminded of Robert Smithson’s monumental installation from 1970 Spiral scaffoldingbrilliantly captured on film by the late, great photojournalist Gianfranco Gorgoni.

Tintin Nina discothequean installation of the richly colored, large-scale works of Argentinian artist Vivian Suter at the Kaufmann Repetto stand (Milan – New York) was the culmination of decades of research into the treasures of the Guatemalan rainforest.

If you arrive in Milan by train this month, you will be greeted by a spectacular installation by French street artist JR French artist. La Nascita just outside Milan Central Station consists of a series of enormous printed images of rock formations plastered onto aluminum slats and is on view until May 1, 2024.

A free public design exhibition at the University of Milan is also a must visit this month. Interni Cross Vision, presented by Interni magazine, can be seen in and above the beautiful historic courtyard of the university until April 28. More than 40 exhibitions and installations in architecture and interior design showcase the best of Italian and international design, including 70 designers from Brazil and from Turkey, Kutniaweaving inside out, a dramatic draping of the imposing columns with luxurious strips of striped and Ikat patterned fabrics.

Practical issues

British Airways and Ita Airways have numerous daily flights to Milan Linate Airport, a smaller and wonderfully easy to navigate airport, just 20 minutes from the city centre.

Where to stay

For a luxury stay in Milan, an excellent option in the Porta Nuova district is the super stylish Principe di Savoia, part of the Dorchester Group. For smaller budgets, the four-star NH Milano City Life hotel right next to the art fair and the metro or in the city center, Sonder Missori, is a chic choice.