The 2018 edition recorded an increase in sales in all seven sections of MIART as early as the early hours of the preview on Thursday 12 April, immediately creating a positive and buzzing atmosphere. Sales then continued throughout the days of the event thanks to the increased attendance of collectors from 25 countries. 11.396 international VIPs attended registered among collectors, art consultants, curators and museum directors, private foundations. More than 1.500 accredited journalists.
The international audience of Miart 2018 appreciated the very high planning expressed by the 184 gallery: a distinctive element that characterized the edition that just ended was, in fact, the quality of the works and exhibition projects, in some cases museum-level.
“I am extremely grateful to our exhibitors for the effort they put into building the stands, bringing a quality and rigor that thrilled our audience. I also wish to thank the many Italian and foreign collectors who have gratified us with their presence for the energy and interest they have brought through the corridors of the fair. My gratitude also goes to the public institutions, private foundations and non-profit spaces that animated an incredible and very dense edition of Milan Art Week. Their work confirmed the statute of Milan as a cultural destination now firmly present in the international geography” Alessandro Rabottini, Miart Artistic Director.
These are some of the comments collected in the galleries present:
“miart confirms its expansive capacity with significant international presences that have given a strong dynamism to the fair. I am very happy with the results achieved, this is certainly the result of the effort made by the galleries and which has been rewarded by an equal audience.”
Alfonso Artiaco, Alfonso Artiaco Gallery, Naples (section Established Contemporary)
“miart is the new platform for modern and contemporary art in Italy. The fair is the perfect marriage of curatorial attention and commercial effectiveness.”
Simone Battisti, Gladstone Gallery, New York – Brussels (section Established Contemporary)
“We took part in miart for the second time presenting the works of Matt Mullican and a cabinet dedicated to vintage photographs by Luigi Ghirri. This edition demonstrates the solidity that the fair has acquired in recent years establishing itself as a leader in Italy for its ability to attract players on the Italian modern and contemporary art market. In conjunction with the fair, the city of Milan offers many interesting and high quality exhibitions and the feeling is that in the future nobody wants to miss this appointment.”
Victor Gisler, May 36, Zurich (section Established Contemporary)
“We attended miart for the first time and we will definitely be back next year! The quality of the fair and visitor participation fully reflects the international character and dynamism of Milan, offering great potential for visibility and sales.”
Yuli Karatsiki, Kalfayan Galleries, Athens – Thessaloniki (section Established Contemporary)
“Milan has been experiencing a new Renaissance for some years now. The city has become more attractive to both Italian and international visitors and has become increasingly cosmopolitan. miart takes place in a vibrant moment for Milanese cultural life, just before the Salone del Mobile, an event that has been attracting visitors from all over the world for years. We already work with some very active Italian collectors and miart is the perfect opportunity for us to further extend our knowledge. Italian collectors are very interested in the gallery program for both emerging and established artists.”
Almine Rech, Almine Rech Gallery, Paris – Brussels – London – New York (section Established Contemporary)
“miart has definitively become an international fair. The path that began years ago has proved successful: we have recorded visits from great Italian and European collectors and also from overseas museum directors. It was a success!"
Mark Voena, Robilant + Voena, Milan – London – St. Moritz (section Established masters)
“With all due respect to other international destinations, I prefer to stay in Milan, a modern, efficient and pleasant city, enlivened by a very varied network of museums and with excellent hospitality. The fair is beautiful and is now the first in Italy.”
Gian Enzo Sperone Gian Enzo Sperone, Sent – New York (sectionsEstablished masters e Decades)
“This edition of miart was an excellent opportunity to present works by Jarbas Lopes for the first time in Italy and to convey the spirit of the gallery. We have met an attentive and curious audience and we are happy to have created new relationships.”
Elsa Ravazzolo Botner The Gentle Carioca, Rio de Janeiro (section Generations)
“I am very happy with this edition, the whole miart team has done an excellent job. Sales have been very good and I have met new foreign collectors.”
Ilaria Leoni, Hermes-Hermes, Vienna (Emergent section)
“This year we took part in miart for the first time and the experience was very positive. The curatorship for the Object section has made this part of the fair one of the most interesting in the field of collectible design. The presence of different sections within the same event creates a very strong fair model.” Martin Arno M. Feldt, Gallerie Feldt, Copenhagen (section Object)
As per tradition, miart 2018 assigned an important number of prizes conferred by juries made up of curators and directors of international museums:
– Acquisition Fund of Fondazione Fiera Milano:
Works acquired for a value of 100.000 € by the following artists: June Crespo (P420, Bologna), Lisa Dalfino and Sacha Kanah (Climate, Milan), Paul Icarus (Francesca Minini, Milan), Jochen Lempert(ProjecteSD, Barcelona), Diego Marcon (Hermes-Hermes, Vienna), Luca Monterastelli (Deweer, Otegem), Matt Mullican (MAI 36, Zurich), Torbjorn Rodland (Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels).
– Herno Award: Assigned to the gallery Jocelyn Wolff, Paris present within the section Decades with the personal exhibition dedicated to William Anastasi, for a value of 10.000 euro.
– Fidenza Village Award for Generations: assigned to the dialogue between the female artists Lisetta Carmi (Martini & Ronchetti, Genoa) e Birgit Megerle (Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna – Rome), for a value of10.000 €.
– On Demand Award by Snaporazverein: assigned to the artistAdmire Kamudzengerere (Tyburn Gallery, London), worth10.000 € for use in future production.
– LCA Award for Emergent: Assigned to the gallery Sophie Tappeiner (Vienna), for a value of 4.000 €.
– CEDIT Award for Object: assigned to the work of Core study (ammann//gallery, Cologne), to be assigned to the permanent collection of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.
– Rotary Club Milano Brera Award for Contemporary Art and Young Artists: assigned to the artist Alfredo Vinegar (Levy Delval Gallery, Brussels) in the form of an acquisition, to be allocated to a prestigious Milanese museum institution.
Exhibitors also appreciated the significant presence of curators, directors and groups of patrons from various museums around the world such as the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, Palais de Tokyo, Center Pompidou, Serpentine Gallery and the numerous acquisitions by institutions and collections, including which the purchase of the work Untitled (Bosch) by Ciprian Muresan (Prometeogallery by Ida Pisani) by nctm e l'arte, a project dedicated to art by Nctm Studio Legale for its collection l'opera.
Important influx of public also for the 3 intense days of themiartalks, organized for the third consecutive year in collaboration with In Between Art Film, which saw the participation of over 40 international artists, curators, museum directors, collectors and authors called to explore the dimension of the imagination as a force that creates and transforms reality and not as an escape from the present.
Great success also for myarteducational, the new free mediation service for the public organized by miart in collaboration with Fidenza Village, which in the 3 days of opening to the public was sold out.
miart 2018 was generously supported by Intesa Sanpaolo, main partner of the event for the first year.
New important partners have also supported the twenty-third edition of the modern and contemporary art fair in Milan in multiple forms: FLOS, an international leading company in the residential and architectural lighting sector, as technical partner has created a site-specific light installation by the London-based designer of Cypriot origin Michael Anastassiades inside the VIP Lounge, in the three Michelin star restaurant by Vittorio – miart partner since 2013; Elle decor, for the first time joined miart for the conception of the interior design of the VIP Lounge, whose furnishings were created in collaboration with B&B Italy e Kartell.
Finally, they confirmed their support for miart partners who have been accompanying the fair since 2012, such as champagne Ruinart, which enriched the VIP lounge with a casket entirely dedicated to an installation by Liu Bolin; the Westin Palace Milan, hospitality partner, e NAVA Press, which this year he curated in collaboration with Mousse Agency the creation of printed materials.
