The twenty-fifth edition of Miart confirms an identity built on the dialogue between past and present, between modern and contemporary, between tradition and experimentation, in the belief that our times can be read more clearly through the lens of history. The two main sections of the fair – Established masters ed Established Contemporary with the participation of 107 galleries further underline the centrality of this event which in Italy has the widest chronological offer.
Among highlights of the section Established masters, the gallery Elbow (Milan) presents a series of precious tapestries made by Herta Ottolenghi Wedekind (1885-1953), one of the most outstanding female avant-garde personalities of the early twentieth century (as well as, together with her husband Arturo Ottolenghi, a philanthropist and supporter of artistic activities). While many of the artist's creations can be found in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Louvre in Paris and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the tapestries - made with a process between artisan and industrial - are not never been presented to the public. The exhibition is completed by a volume that traces the salient moments of the woman's life, through unpublished autobiographical documents and writings.
Montrasio Art (Milan – Monza) instead presents only one show dedicated to Dennis Oppenheim (Electric City, 1938 – New York, 2011), known for his activity in the field of performance art, Land Art e videoart. The gallery exhibits a rich selection of sculptures from his New York studio, which offer a portrait of the artist's creativity throughout his oeuvre. Among these, the impressive Western piece (1999), an extraordinary composition of prairie-green colored horse bodies, of different sizes, which cross and intertwine.
The artist Mirko Basaldella (Udine, 1910 – Cambridge, 1969) is instead the protagonist of the stand of Antiquarian covers (Udine), which presents a selection of pictorial and sculptural works. Among the main works, four wooden doors carved with still lifes, made in 1954 for the Triennale theater in Milan. The project, which was never completed, envisaged twenty panels along the entire wall of the grand staircase in the Palazzo dell'Arte of the X Triennale, illuminated by a ceiling of colored blown glass discs based on a design by Giuseppe Capogrossi (while a mat designed by Giuseppe Ajmone would have been found on the floor).
If the section Master Degrees stands out for the numerous monographic stands, in Established Contemporary however, there are many duets — or juxtapositions between two artists represented by individual galleries — such as, for example, the alternation proposed by ZERO… (Milan) between two Italian talents belonging to consecutive generations: Massimo Grimaldi (Taranto, 1974) and Richard Benassi (Cremona, 1982). However, there are also fascinating dialogues between artists of the same age but from apparently distant contexts and experiences - such as the one between Nathlie Provosty (Cincinnati, 1981) e Ibrahim Mahama (Tamale, Ghana, 1987) proposed by APALAZZOGALLERY (Brescia), or the one between Svenja Deininger(Vienna, 1974,) and Andrea Sala (Como, 1976) in the stand of SLAVE ZOPPELLI GALLERY (Milan).
Also noteworthy is the choice of some galleries to rely on external curators for their exhibition project. The stand of Lange + Pult (Zurich – Auvernier), for example, will be curated by the artist Matthew Mercier (Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, 1970) who, starting from his own interest in Modernism and the artistic avant-garde, will set up a selection of his own works and those of - among others - Alfredo Vinegar (Turin, 1991), Justin Adian (Fort Worth, USA, 1976), sylvie fleury (Geneva, 1961), and OlivierThe moss (Bern, 1944). OR Fumagalli Gallery (Milan) who — on the occasion of the 30-year career of Annamaria Maggi, who has led the gallery since 1991 — invited the Hungarian critic Lóránd Hegyi to imagine a correspondence between the works of Maurizio Nannucci (Florence, 1939) and by Thorsten Brinkman (Herne, Germany, 1971).
Finally, the Design — represented across the board and present in all sections of the fair — also plays a leading role in Established Contemporary, thanks to numerous young realities and important returns, new interpreters and historical realities. For example, Rossella Colombari Gallery (Milan), which - to pay homage to the 40 years of activity of the gallery owner of the same name - will recreate a "room of wonders" by comparing two Italian artists of different generations such as Bruno Gambone (1936) and Antonio Marras (1961). Or Saffi workshops (Milan), which presents the works of five Danish ceramists — Marie Herwald Hermann, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen, Turi Heisselberg Pedersen, Aya Simone BækhøjSchmidt, e Lone Skov Madsen — focusing on the role of women in contemporary ceramic experimentation, as well as Denmark — one of the lesser-known centers of excellence in this material.
