Art has long been celebrated for its ability to shed new light on everyday life, by urging awareness of the most extreme aspects of it – and also of those less relevant – transforming the seemingly insignificant into potent symbols. Yet, if art can’t influence our reality, how can it turn us into active spectators? This is one of the weighty questions which this year’s edition of Miart plans to answer in the course of three short days.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Milan art fair directed by Alessandro Rabottini will open its doors to the public the weekend before Salone del Mobile. A formidable roster of 186 galleries from 19 countries will be showing at the 2019 edition and divided into seven themed sections: established contemporary, established masters, generations, decades, emergent, on demand, and finally, the object section, curated once again by design critic and journalist Hugo MacDonald.
This year’s focus will be on creating dialogues between artists in order to understand where contemporary art is going at present. It is also the first time that a number of international art galleries such as Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Cabinet, Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Herald St and more, will make Milan the centre of their trade. Local galleries, too, are putting their best foot forward. Milan’s very own Galleria Gomiero presents an remarkable selection of late-career drawings from late by architect Carlo Scarpa while Dimore will frame the works of 20th-century masters including Marcel Breuer in a polished domestic interior setting.
Another highlight of this edition is a series of talks organised in collaboration with Beatrice Bulgari’s In Between Art Film, which sees 40 artists, museum curators and directors, collectors, designers and international writers discussing the theme of ‘The Common Good’ and how it can be explored in relation to the three main areas of Miart: modern art, contemporary art and design.
Clearing and Mai 36 join forces to show Koenraad Dedobbeleer in the Established Contemporary section
Bologna’s Galleria Enrico Astuni brings Alessandro Mendini to the Established Masters section
A sculpture by Tony Cragg is among the works at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s stand
INFORMATION
Miart 2019 runs from 5-7 April. For more information, visit the Miart website
-
Mercedes streamlines the CLA Shooting Brake to create an aerodynamic electric load luggerThe new CLA Shooting Brake is the first ever electric estate car from Mercedes-Benz, a tour-de-force of quiet technology and elegant lines
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local trainAn exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Photographer Mohamed Bourouissa reflects on society, community and the marginalised at MASTMohamed Bourouissa unites his work from the last two decades at Bologna’s Fondazione MAST
-
Ten super-cool posters for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics have just been unveiledThe Olympic committees asked ten young artists for their creative take on the 2026 Milano Cortina Games
-
The alternative art fairs championing emerging artistsThe lower barrier to entry to these smaller and specialist art fairs make them hubs of grassroots creativity, allowing emerging names to establish a foothold in the industry
-
25 artists reimagine the teapot at Milan Design Week 2025Come to Loewe’s cross-cultural tea party: pots of fun in Milan as artists, designers and architects celebrate the universal comfort of tea
-
Inside the unexpected collaboration between Marni’s Francesco Risso and artists Slawn and SoldierNew exhibition ‘The Pink Sun’ will take place at Francesco Risso’s palazzo in Milan in collaboration with Saatchi Yates, opening after the Marni show today, 26 February
-
What makes fashion and art such good bedfellows?There has always been a symbiosis between fashion and the art world. Here, we look at what makes the relationship such a successful one
-
Remembering Oliviero Toscani, fashion photographer and author of provocative Benetton campaignsBest known for the controversial adverts he shot for the Italian fashion brand, former art director Oliviero Toscani has died, aged 82
-
Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TVStefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
