Yuli Yamagata at Ordet
DAY 5 • APRIL 1 • 4.00 PM CEST
“Afasta Nefasta” is the first solo show in Italy by Brazilian artist Yuli Yamagata, presenting a group of new works within an exhibition design that alters the configuration of the space. Yamagata’s works move on the border between dream and reality, drawing inspiration from mass culture and pushing the viewers to abandon themselves to the possibilities of her oneiric imagination. An octopus, a snail, a hermit crab, and a snake populate the twisted skeleton of the rooms, all tentacular and soft but bearing signs of their human mutation. Yamagata’s creatures can be comforting and disturbing, as the artist employs easily identifiable patterns along with grotesque and surrealistic details inserting new narratives into the works. Their weirdness comes from something that we’re already familiar with, but that suddenly feels a little different. The exhibition opens today at 6pm.
Tadashi Kawamata “Nests”
DAY 4 • MARCH 31 • 5.00 PM CEST
Internationally renowned for his multidisciplinary projects, Tadashi Kawamata created his famous “nests” for the first time in Milan. The four site-specific projects are both inside the BUILDING gallery (Via Monte di Pietà 23) and on its facade, and in other venues nearby: Grand Hotel et de Milan (Via Manzoni 29), Centro Congressi Fondazione Cariplo (Via Romagnosi 8), and Cortile della Magnolia of the Palazzo di Brera (Via Brera 28). The artist appropriated their facades, internal spaces, balconies, and roofs, with a series of constructions made of wooden planks interwoven to form a complex grid that is both light-weight yet solid, offering a different interpretation of the appearance and meaning of each urban structure.
Milan Mayor unveiled Maurizio Cattelan’s “Lullaby” at the Monumental Cemetery
DAY 3 • MARCH 30 • 3.00 PM CEST
Mayor Beppe Sala inaugurated “Lullaby,” one of two works made of layered sacks filled with rubble from the explosion in front of the PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea museum in Milan. In 1993, a Mafia-related terrorist event killed five people. The work, which will be on display in the cremation room of the Cimitero Monumentale until 6 November, has been donated by the artist to the City of Milan and will enter the collections of the Museo del Novecento later this year. Maurizio Cattelan “is a super Milanese,” said the mayor. The work is in a venue that preserves Milan’s history, continued Mr. Sala. “Everywhere you turn, you see a piece of history. It is not merely a burial site,” said Mr. Sala. The artist decided to exhibit the artwork inside the Crematorium Temple, a crematory built in 1866. Read the full story.
Elmgreen & Dragset “Useless Bodies?”
DAY 3 • MARCH 30 • 10.00 AM CEST
The artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset inaugurated one of the most ambitious projects produced by Fondazione Prada to date. “Useless Bodies?” explores the present condition of the body in the post-industrial age in which it seems that our physical presence is losing its centrality or is even completely superfluous. The artists transformed the Milan premises of Fondazione Prada into a series of different universes, each with its distinctive atmosphere, theme, and aesthetics. Following the exhibition path, spanning more than 3,000 square meters, the audience will encounter several immersive installations: a futuristic house, a gallery of ancient and contemporary sculptures, and an abandoned swimming pool.
A new work by Richard Serra’s at Cardi Gallery
DAY 2 • MARCH 29 • 2.00 PM CEST
Widely known for his iconic large-scale, site-specific sculptures, Serra has developed a consistent drawing practice throughout his long career, producing works that are immediate and fundamental in their line of investigation and mark making. Operating intuitively within the constraints of established criteria, the artist has been using black paintstick (compressed oil paint, wax, and pigment) since 1971 as his medium of choice. The exhibition features 40 new drawings, all one-of-a-kind pieces, created by the American artist specifically for this ocassion, and presented in an installation he designed himself.
Steve McQueen inaugurated his new exhibition in Milan
DAY 2 • MARCH 29 • 11.00 AM CEST
Organized in collaboration with Tate Modern in London, this morning the Steve McQueen’s solo exhibition opened this morning at the Pirelli HangarBicocca. Mr. McQueen is one of the most important contemporary artists, film-makers and screenwriters. He is known for his award-winning film 12 Years a Slave (2013), an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 slave narrative memoir.
Titled “Sunshine State,” the exhibition in Milan has been conceived as a site-specific project. Featuring a new work alongside some of the artist’s most iconic works, it constitutes a unique opportunity to explore McQueen’s career in the visual arts and highlights the themes addressed in his works, such as those related to the concepts of identity and belonging.
Maurizio Cattelan Controversial Self-Portrait
MARCH 28 • 4.00 PM CEST
Maurizio Cattelan latest project is titled “You.” The new work shows a dummy of Cattelan hanged from the ceiling of the lavish bathroom of Casa Corbellini-Wassermann, the exhibition space of Massimo de Carlo, Cattelan’s gallerist. The event attracted many curious people who waited in line for a long time to see the new work of the Italian artist.
Artur Zmijewski’s first solo show in Italy
MARCH 28 • 12.00 PM CEST
Artur Zmijewski is one of the most important radical figures on the Polish art scene. His research reflects his concern with wide-ranging social problems and moves between the mechanisms of power and oppression within the existing social order – as well as social conflicts bordering on violence – while exposing the human instinctive inclination towards evil. The exhibition, curated by Diego Sileo, presents a selection of historical and recent works, including three new works conceived specifically for this Milanese project and produced by PAC, such as the new film inspired by the scientific cinema of the neurologist Vincenzo Neri and the photographic series “Refugees/Cardboards,” a long black and white photographic mural from which emerge human figures that look like refugees, men and women surrounded by darkness and desolation.
The Modern Art Gallery in Milan presented a new project by Elisa Sighicelli
MARCH 28 • 11.00 AM CEST
The Modern Art Gallery presents “As Above, So Below,” a solo exhibition of new works by artist Elisa Sighicelli. Curated by Paola Zatti, the exhibition brings to life a new and surprising story of the underground archives of the Milanese museum.
Behind-the-scenes: Yuli Yamagata “Afasta Nefasta”
MARCH 28 • 10.00 AM CEST
Yuli Yamagata’s first solo show in Italy is opening on April 2 at Ordet in Milan. presenting a group of new works within an exhibition design that alters the configuration of the space. A behind-the-scenes snap reveals the moments when the works for the exhibition arrived at Ordet. Milan Art Week is about to begin.
