June Art Guide - Milan

Recommendations of what to see in the Milan art scene this month by our local guide, Sara Cattaneo. Discover more on a private art tour!

I. 

Exhibition: Cinemoderno 2018
Artists: Mercedes Azpilicueta, Filipa Cesar & Luis Henderson and Eli Cortiñas
Venue: Careof
Dates: Until July 7th, 2018

Careof is one of the most established non-profit organization for contemporary artistic research in town. They just recently inaugurated the second edition of Cinemoderno, a short festival, which this year is structured around the imaginary of video and its performative potential. The festival is developed around three live interventions in different locations which can be visited for two weeks after the live performances. Followed by the project of Filipa César & Louis Henderson and a Lecture Performance by Eli Cortinas: a series of unmissable appointments.

Courtesy Careof, Milano

II. 

Exhibition: The Dream Machine is Asleep
Artists: Eva Kot’átková
Venue: Pirelli HangarBicocca
Dates: Until July 22th, 2018

The Dream Machine is Asleep is a solo show by the Czech artist Eva Kot’átková, this includes the most varied of the latest productions of the artist. This immersive project starts with a vision of the human body as a machine, the exhibition explores the projections and thoughts of the human being in the disorientation of contemporary living. This is a great retrospective not to be missed by one of the most interesting artists of the latest years.

III. 

Exhibition: Borderlight. City as a vision
Artists: Borderlight Collective (Lorenzo Bruscaglioni, Emilia Castioni, Nicola Ciancio, Simona Da Pozzo, Cecilia Di Gaddo, Alice Grassi and Isabella Mara)
Venue: San Vittore e 40 Martiri
Dates: Until June 21st, 2018

This particular exhibition is set up in and around the ruin of the construction site of San Vittore e 40 Martiri. The exhibition is about the light: the show is a sort of synthesis of the experimentation that the Bordelight project has accomplished through the nocturnal milanese landscape. 
All the installations will be placed in public spaces of Milan, reconstructing in a single site-specific intervention, a unique event to re-think the role of light in urban space and the perception of space by citizens.

Courtesy Borderlight collective, Photo credits Emilia Castioni

Take an Oh So Arty tour in Milan to discover more!

miart: Modern and Contemporary Art Fair in Milan

The latest edition of miart – modern and contemporary art fair in Milan opened Thursday April 12th. In the last years, under the guide of Alessandro Rabottini and the precious work of his team, miart has become a benchmark for collectors, curators, museum directors and art lovers in Europe.

This year the fair counts 184 galleries, many of which are hosted in special sections curated by a team of international curators, likes Oda Albera, Alberto Salvadori and Fatos Üstek. For the days of the fair a great number of events are also planned both inside the pavilion and around the city. One of the most important events to know from the Milan ArtWeek program is the extraordinary opening of non-profit spaces scheduled for Saturday evening.

The complete program of events can be found on the miart website. In order not to get lost between openings, performances and special events, below you’ll find a short list of “the one you can’t miss” – and also some advice on where to take a breath during this contemporary art marathon.

Friday 13 April
Opening Triennale Design Museum XI Edition
h. 7 pm at La Triennale di Milano (Viale Emilio Alemagna, 6)

Not to be missed is the opening of the new edition of The Triennale Design Museum. This year the museum is about the history and stories of the Italian design, told through 180 iconic twentieth century objects, with a reflection about the contemporary design scene.

Afterwards I suggest you to go to Bar Basso (in this bar the most famous milanese cocktail Negroni Sbagliato was invented) for a drink between artists and gallerists. 

Bar Basso

Saturday 14 April
Art Night non-profit spaces
h. 8 pm – midnight
-
Videoscreening and Sleep Concert at Standards (via Angiolo Maffucci, 26)

At this time of the year, there are loads of interesting events organised by the non-profit spaces, which as of late have been booming in town. Among these, I suggest you not to miss the Videoscreening E Sleep Concert at Standards curated by Gaia Martino and Roberta Pagani – in collaboration with Archive Books, Frequente and S/V/N/.

After that I recommend you to grab a table at at Latteria Maffucci, one of the most historical taverns in town located close by. They don’t even have a menu, just trust the chef!

Latteria Maffucci

Sunday 15 April
Trip out of town
Continuum at Rocca di Angera - Isole Borromee (via Rocca Castello 2, Angera)

Continuum is the show that inaugurates the new exhibition space at Rocca di Angera, a place dedicated to contemporary creativity. The exhibition, curated by Antonio Grulli in collaboration with the Galleria Massimo Minini of Brescia, presents the works of some great contemporary artists in dialogue with the historical ambiences of the Rocca and the majestic landscape that surrounds it.

Not to be missed is the boat ride on Maggiore Lake, maybe with a stop at Isola Bella and Isola Madre to take a look at their beautiful botanical gardens.

Lago Maggiore

Take an art tour in Milan to discover more! 
 

April Art Guide - Milan

Recommendations of what to see in the Milan art scene this month by our local guide, Sara Cattaneo. Discover more on a private art tour!

I. 

Exhibition: Sporgersi nella notte
Artists: Sophie Ko
Venue: Renata Fabbri Arte Contemporanea
Dates: Until April 28th, 2018

Sporgersi nella notte (Leaning into the night) is the title of the solo show by Sophie Ko. The artist invites us to look towards the unknown and to question ideas and images in our everyday life. The artist has produced a series of new works by rearranging existing objects and other minimal interventions, exploring concepts of sacred, saint and earth. A unique exhibition of one of the most interesting contemporary artists active in town right now .

Courtesy Renata Fabbri Arte Contemporanea, Milano. credit Lorenzo Bacci

II. 

Exhibition: Dialoghi
Artists: David Simpson / Francesco Bertocco
Venue: Office Project Room
Dates: Until April 30th, 2018

Office Project Room presents a solo exhibition by Francesco Bertocco, in dialogue with the work of the late Lilac by David Simpson. This is the first episode of the Dialoghi (Dialogues) cycle, a project that has the purpose to establish a dialogue between young artist and more established ones. With this selection of photographs, Francesco Bertocco explores the original setting of Sigmund Freud's study in Vienna, going to investigate the space as a place of the particular relationship between therapist and patient. Last but not least, the exhibition is displayed at Office Project Room, a fresh new space in Milan where the actual part of one of the offices is used as an exhibition space. An inspiring new way to investigate such an old field.

Courtesy Office Project Room, Milano

III. 

Exhibition: Forme-pensiero
Artists: Meris Angioletti
Venue: Otto Zoo
Dates: Until May 12th, 2018

Otto Zoo presents a solo show by Meris Angioletti, that includes some recent artist’s works, all characterised by the use of primary elements borrowed from the language of film, such as light, projection and frame. The exhibition hosts for the first time a series of shadowgraphs: photographic images obtained by the simple interposition of objects between the paper and the light source. A new use of the light which creates non-classifiable works and it makes us reflect on the central dimension that light has in all its artistic declensions.

Courtesy Otto Zoo, Milano. Credit Ugo Dalla Porta

Take a tour in Milan to discover more! 

February Art Guide - Milan

Recommendations of what to see in the Milan art scene this month by our local guide, Sara Cattaneo. Discover even more on a private tour.

I. 

Exhibition: Stephan Balkenhol
Artist: Stephan Balkenhol
Venue: Monica De Cardenas Galleria
Dates: Until March 10th, 2018

Galleria Monica De Cardenas presents a solo show of Stephan Balkenhol, one of the most interesting contemporary sculptors. The works of Balkenhol are made using an ancient technique: he brings out his figures by gouging them out of a tree trunk. The artist makes neutral figures; the absence of any distinctive sign aims to honour every man.
A beautiful exhibition of one of the most fascinating sculptors around.

Courtesy Galleria Monica De Cardenas, Milano
credit Andrea Rossetti

II. 

Exhibition: Memoria
Artist: James Nachtwey
Venue: Palazzo Reale
Dates: Until March 4th, 2018

Palazzo Reale hosts the first stage of the international tour of Memoria (Memory), a solo show which contains a large selection of James Nachtwey’s works. Nachtwey, who is universally considered the successor of Robert Capa, presents two hundred images taken from the most significant reportages made in his thirty-five year career. 
A rare exhibition that allows us to reflect on war through the eyes of the one of the major contemporary American photographers.

III. 

Exhibition: The Measures of Memory
Artists: Alejandro Cesarco
Venue: Galleria Raffaella Cortese
Dates: Until March 2nd, 2018

In this solo exhibitions, Cesarco reflects on the possibilities of memory through different methods of investigation. The artist uses a framed archival ink-jet print and 8mm film transferred to digital in order to immerse the viewer in a melancholic universe, where he reflects on the different relationships that bind us to others and the role of the memory in these connections.
An intimate exhibition that gives us the opportunity to empathize with the artist and reread in his stories a bit of ours.

Courtesy of the artist and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano
Credit Lorenzo Palmieri

Take an art tour in Milan to discover more!

Milan Art Guide - January

Recommendations of what to see in the Milan art world this month by our local guide, Sara Cattaneo. Explore more in a private art tour.

I. 

Exhibition: There is a Planet
Artist: Ettore Sottsass
Venue: The Triennale Design Museum
Dates: Until March 11th, 2018

The Triennale Design Museum presented a monographic exhibition about Ettore Sottsass on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The exhibition examines in depth the polyhedric and complex work of Sottsass as architect, designer, photographer and writer. The show is accompanied by a book and a catalogue. The book, which is named after the exhibition, includes a long series of pictures taken during forty years of travel around the world. These pictures show the human presence on the planet and are by themselves a really good reason to visit the exhibition.

II. 

Exhibition: Ambienti/Environments
Artist: Lucio Fontana
Venue: Pirelli HangarBicocca
Dates: Until February 25th, 2018

Pirelli HangarBicocca presents a selection of “Ambienti spaziali” (Spatial environments) by the italian artist Lucio Fontana, founder of the spatialist movement. The installations on show were specifically recreated for this exhibition and are seen together for the first time. In few words it is a monumental retrospective of the Fontana’s pioneering work in the realm of installation art.
Must to see!

III. 

Exhibition: Incontri
Artist: Paolo Roversi
Venue: Galleria Carla Sozzani
Dates: Until February 11th, 2018

This exhibition of Paolo Roversi is complementary to the largest ongoing show of the artist at Palazzo Reale. For “Incontri”(encounters) Roversi has developed a display with thirty diptychs and triptychs as in a painting from the Renaissance period, which made extensive use of this technique. These pictures are particularly interesting for their proximity to the pictorial technique and its peculiar delivery of the image itself.