2023-08-22 13:45:56
An ‘invisible’ work of art may catch the eye of observant travelers landing at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. There is a plaque on the floor that reads: “All the steps I have taken in my life have led me here, now.” It is the work of the artist Alberto Garutti, who died at the end of June 2023 at the age of 70 – and a typically Milanese installation in its discreet beauty, like that of the gardens and courtyards, often hidden behind austere facades.
Garutti’s work consists of simple gestures that create a connection with the community. He had also been connected to the city of Milan in this way since the 1990s, through decades of teaching at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. “Classroom 1, where he taught, was a catalyst for several generations of Italian artists,” says Patrick Tuttofuoco, a Milanese artist who lived in Berlin for a few years and returned to Milan in 2018.
“Walking into his classroom, you didn’t feel like you were entering the academy, but the whole complexity of the art system. He didn’t walk you through the technical execution of a work; you had to come up with the finished work and have a critical debate about it,” says Tuttofuoco. “It was a period of great growth.”
Private commitment has inspired Milan
Since then, the art scene in Milan has changed profoundly and has become much richer. On the academic level, there are private universities such as Naba and the design institute IED, which attract many foreign students, especially from Asia. The much-discussed Museum of Contemporary Art was not built (in 2008, under Mayor Letizia Moratti, there was a plan drawn up by Daniel Libeskind, but nothing came of it).
Instead, there are two private institutions that bring international art to Milan and have become an integral part of the city – the Hangar Bicocca (founded in 2004 on the initiative of Pirelli) and the Fondazione Prada (opened in 2015 in a former distillery renovated by Rem Koolhaas). The fashion industry proved to be an important donor: the Fondazione Trussardi, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, opens up places that are normally closed to the public with its traveling exhibition model (currently the exhibition of Diego Marcon, one of the most internationally successful Italian artists , which will be represented by the galleries Sadie Coles and Daniel Buchholz from 2022). The Fondazione Furla, the leather goods brand of the same name, launched in 2017 the “Furla Series”, exhibitions dedicated to women artists, in collaboration with Milan’s museum institutions.
Gallery spaces by Massimo De Carlo
Those: © Delfino Sisto Legnani+Marco Cappelletti Courtesy MASSIMODECARLO
But there has also been movement again in the commercial art scene in Milan. Established over the years as the main Italian center for the art market, especially as far as galleries are concerned, thanks to a dense network of private collectors. Some of the most important Italian galleries are based in Milan, such as Massimo De Carlo, who has just announced the opening of a foundation in Monferrato, Piedmont, in the coming years. However, it is also true that there has been little change in galleries in recent years and only a few young galleries have emerged, such as Fanta, Federico Vavassori, Martina Simeti, Castiglioni and Clima.
Motivation boost Flat tax
In addition to the fashion and design industry’s willingness to invest, the flat tax introduced in Italy in 2017, a lump-sum taxation for so-called high-net-worth individuals, was another motivational boost for the art trade. The phenomenon that Milan is also attracting galleries from abroad is relatively new. The M+B Gallery from Los Angeles recently opened the Casa MB in the Corso Magenta district. London gallery owner Carl Kostyál expanded into a downtown apartment designed by architect Caccia Dominioni.
In the past two years, Peres Projects from Berlin (centrally located in the neoclassical Palazzo Belgioioso), Gregor Staiger from Zurich and Ciaccia Levi from Paris (in a house with a charming garden in Via Rossini) and in the immediate vicinity Conceptual Fine Arts, who regularly invites guest galleries (most recently Sophie Tappeiner from Vienna).
Elegant rooms: a look at Marc Padeu’s show in the Milan branch of Peres Projects from Berlin
Quelle: Courtesy Peres Projects/t-space studio
The Miart art fair, held in spring the week before the famous Salone del Mobile, has also been revived after being run by Vincenzo De Bellis between 2012 and 2016. De Bellis, who is now director of fairs and exhibition platforms at Art Basel, managed to create a real art week and bond with the city.
After him, Alessandro Rabottini and now Nicola Ricciardi have continued his work under the banner of continuity. Certainly, Expo 2015 helped give the city a boost that has continued over time. Preparations are now under way for the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in 2026.
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But the development also has negative consequences: real estate prices, which have always been expensive in Milan compared to other Italian cities, are constantly increasing and it has become very difficult for artists (and not only them) to rent in Milan to pay for a house or a studio. If this development is not stopped, Milan will become a city only for the rich and will lose its attractiveness. It is no coincidence that an organization like Art Workers Italy, which works to promote the recognition of the artistic profession, was born in Milan during the pandemic.
Widespread art scene
Behind the glamor typical of the city actually hides an undergrowth of initiatives that regard art not only as an economic asset, but also as a social value. “In the early 2000s, you could count the charitable organizations on one hand,” says Giovanna Amadasi, program director at Hangar Bicocca. There she also organizes the Milano Re-Mapped festival, dedicated to independent projects in Milan. A festival that the Milanese institution has just conceived as collectors of different experiences and voices:
“Today there is an archipelago of realities that conduct important research on highly topical issues such as the postcolonial question or gender issues, but above all transform spaces that are often peripheral or unused into cultural spaces,” says Amadasi.
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“It is a rather invisible scene, little appreciated by the commercial art system, but fundamental to the contribution it makes to contemporary Milanese art production and the development of a critical discourse. It is important to leave the paths and the institutional system of the market to observe them; it is like a myriad of mushrooms branching out beneath the surface, unhinging the monolithic view of the system.”
Project space spazioSERRA in the Lancetti train station
Those: spaceSERRA
In any case, the dynamic that she describes is unmistakable. However, some young projects are also more closely networked with galleries and collectors, such as Ordet. The exhibition platform was founded by the ex-creators of “Mousse” magazine, Edoardo Bonaspetti and Stefano Cernuschi, together with Anna Bergamasco from Messe Miart. The Archive group, founded by Chiara Figone, is co-led by Zasha Colah, who is curating the 2025 Berlin Biennale.
For her project, Natascia Fenoglio finds old Milanese shops that are in danger of disappearing. Her first exhibition with Alessandro Gavini took place in a butcher’s shop. And spazioSERRA makes exhibitions in the former newspaper kiosk of the Lancetti train station. The collective is currently looking for contributions for a site-specific, architecture-related group show via an open call.
Patrick Tuttofuoco was also looking for studio space. The project development company BiM (Bicocca incontra Milano), which is renovating a monumental building by the rationalist architect Vittorio Gregotti in the Bicocca district, offered him premises at affordable rent.
Die Macher des Projekts „Specific“: Alessandra Pallotta, Nic Bello, Andrea Sala, Stefano D’amelio und Patrick Tuttofuoco (from links)
Those: Courtesy Patrick Tuttofuoco
“In return, I was asked to create a connection with the community. This isn’t about gentrification: you don’t want to send people away, you want to bring them in. We want to create a meeting place to generate content in the public space and encourage dialogue on important issues while maintaining a proactive critical eye in such difficult times where it takes a lot of trust not to become dystopian.” The project space is called Specific and is scheduled to open in October 2023 as an exhibition platform, artist residency and creative laboratory.
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