Exhibitions and events you can't miss at Milan Art Week 2022
From Maurizio Cattelan to the exhibition dedicated to Steve McQueen
March 31st, 2022
Milan becomes the center of art. For one week the city turns into a public hub offering the perfect opportunity to discover emerging artists and talents, but also galleries, new exhibition spaces and creative platforms. The first step is at the Fiera Milano pavilions where, from 1st to 3rd April 2022, Miart returns, the exhibition curated by Nicola Ricciardi which, now in its 26th edition, occupies the premises of 150 exhibitors, established and emerging artists and galleries from 21 different countries, ready to explore this year's theme: Libero Movimento (Free Movement). Among the most anticipated events are the return of Maurizio Cattelan and the exhibition dedicated to Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen in the spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca, but also the first solo exhibition in Italy by Artur Żmijewski.
The calendar is full of happenings, performances, events and openings throughout the city. Here are the must-see events at Milan Art Week 2022.
YOU - Maurizio Cattelan
After Tre bambini impiccati in Piazza XXIV Maggio, Maurizio Cattelan returns to reflect on love, control, loss and defeat, but this time proposing himself in the version of a statue hanging in the bathroom of Casa Corbellini-Wassermann, a space that has been opened to the public for the first time.
Viale Lombardia, 17
By appointment only
Sunshine State - Steve McQueen
Produced in collaboration with the Tate Modern in London at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, the exhibition Sunshine State celebrates the work of Turner Prize and Oscar-winning artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen. It is an immersive video reflection that traces the artist's visual universe, touching on themes such as the perception and construction of identity, racism, violence and sexuality.
Via Chiese, 2
From 10.30 am to 8.30 pm
Useless Bodies? - Elmgreen & Dragset
Fondazione Prada hosts Useless Bodies?, an investigation by the duo Elmgreen & Dragset into the condition of the body in the post-industrial era, in which our physical presence seems to have lost its centrality to the point of being superfluous. Distributed over an exhibition space of about 3000 square meters, the exhibition opens up a path of immersive installations that seem to be portals to many different universes.
Largo Isarco, 2
10am to 7pm
OUT OF ORDER: The Collages of Louise Nevelson - Louise Nevelson
Visiting the new Giò Marconi Gallery exhibition will offer many an opportunity to discover Louise Nevelson, the master of 20th-century sculpture. The exhibition in Milan brings together a wide selection of collages that the Ukrainian-born artist created from the 1950s on, exemplifying her ability to transform the traditional environment of the home from a symbol of female sensibility, domestication and the intimate sphere to a monumental expression of creative freedom.
Via Tadino, 15
From 11 am to 7 pm
Quando la paura mangia l’anima - Artur Zmijewski
From 29 March to 12 June, the PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan is hosting Quando la paura mangia l'anima, the first solo exhibition in Italy by Artur Żmijewski, whose evocative title is inspired by the film of the same name by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The central themes of the Polish artist's work are the human body, fragility, oppression and the instinctive human inclination to evil, but also the mechanisms of memory and collective trauma.
Via Palestro, 14
From 10 am to 7.30 pm
Lullaby - Maurizio Cattelan
From March 30 to November 6, 2022, Maurizio Cattelan's Lullaby will be installed in the crematorium of the Monumental Cemetery in Milan. The work, first exhibited in London in 1994, consists of 40 white plastic bags, stored on two pallets, containing the rubble of the Pavilion of Contemporary Art, razed to the ground by the Mafia attack in Via Palestro on 27 July 1993. When Lullaby leaves its evocative setting, it will become part of the Museo del Novecento's permanent collection.
Piazzale Cimitero Monumentale
8am to 6pm
As Above, So Below - Elisa Sighicelli
A solo exhibition by Elisa Sighicelli which is also a journey through the deposits of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Milan, which are not normally open to visitors because they are used for the conservation and study of works of art for scientific purposes. The 25 images, including photographic prints on paper, a plaster print and two sculptures from the gallery show us (until Sunday 3 July 2022) a hidden treasure made up of languid female figures, bronzes, marbles, plaster casts and works that have long remained hidden from the eyes of GAM visitors.
Via Palestro, 16
From 10am to 5.30pm
Entusiasmo Rituale - Lula Broglio
From 24 March to 26 May Salotto studio presents Lula Broglio's first solo exhibition. In the eight canvases by the artist from Sanremo, realism and magic coexist, cats with laser eyes and elves, cocktail martinis and ghosts, rationalist architecture and familiar atmospheres.
Via Vaina 2
By appointment only
Afasta Nefasta - Yuli Yamagata
Ordet in Porta Romana opens Afasta Nefasta, the first solo exhibition by Brazilian artist Yuli Yamagata. Her works take inspiration from Japanese folk tradition and pop culture to create fascinating dreamlike imagery populated by octopuses, snakes, hermit crabs, snails, soft creatures that bear the signs of their human mutation. The result is an interesting hybrid of dream and reality.
Via Adige, 17
2pm to 7pm
SIGNS. Grafica Italiana Contemporanea
Until 3 April 2022, on the occasion of the first edition of the Milano Graphic Festival, at Base Milano 25 of the best Italian graphic design studios will offer an insight into the state of graphic and communication design in our country and the many languages that talent can create.
Via Bergognone, 34
From 10 am to 7.30 pm
C2CMLN shared by Gucci
After the day of March 31st from the District 272 stage, C2CMLN shared by Gucci continues its immersion in clubbing with talk, music and performances. On April 1st, DJ Daniele Baldelli and producer Physical Therapy will stage their sound projects at Apollo Milano involving the audience in a night of dance music and fun.
Via Giosuè Borsi, 9/2
From 10.30 pm
OUTPUT - Riccardo Benassi e Michele Rizzo
OUTPUT is a cycle of performances incorporating visual art, dance and music by Riccardo Benassi and Michele Rizzo. Realized with the support of Fondazione Marcelo Burlon, the project aims to celebrate the cultural, political and social value of art after two years of continuous closures and reopenings due to the pandemic of spaces used for its distribution. The appointment is for Friday 1 April.
Sempione Square
From 6pm to 9pm