The 2019 edition of the Milan art fair sees artists brush up against the likes of Carlo Scarpa and Marcel Breuer ahead of Salone del Mobile

Milan gallery Officine Saffi presents a solo display of Italian architect Elisa Ossino’s ceramic furniture as an abstracted living space in the Object section

Art has long been celebrated for its ability to shed new light on everyday life, by urging awareness of the most extreme aspects of it – and also of those less relevant – transforming the seemingly insignificant into potent symbols. Yet, if art can’t influence our reality, how can it turn us into active spectators? This is one of the weighty questions which this year’s edition of Miart plans to answer in the course of three short days.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Milan art fair directed by Alessandro Rabottini will open its doors to the public the weekend before Salone del Mobile. A formidable roster of 186 galleries from 19 countries will be showing at the 2019 edition and divided into seven themed sections: established contemporary, established masters, generations, decades, emergent, on demand, and finally, the object section, curated once again by design critic and journalist Hugo MacDonald.

This year’s focus will be on creating dialogues between artists in order to understand where contemporary art is going at present. It is also the first time that a number of international art galleries such as Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Cabinet, Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Herald St and more, will make Milan the centre of their trade. Local galleries, too, are putting their best foot forward. Milan’s very own Galleria Gomiero presents an remarkable selection of late-career drawings from late by architect Carlo Scarpa while Dimore will frame the works of 20th-century masters including Marcel Breuer in a polished domestic interior setting.

Another highlight of this edition is a series of talks organised in collaboration with Beatrice Bulgari’s In Between Art Film, which sees 40 artists, museum curators and directors, collectors, designers and international writers discussing the theme of ‘The Common Good’ and how it can be explored in relation to the three main areas of Miart: modern art, contemporary art and design. §

Clearing and Mai 36 join forces to show Koenraad Dedobbeleer in the Established Contemporary section

Bologna’s Galleria Enrico Astuni brings Alessandro Mendini to the Established Masters section

Gío Marconi focuses on German artist Annette Kelm in the Established Contemporary section

A sculpture by Tony Cragg is among the works at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s stand

A trio of 1972 vases by Claude Conover are presented by first-time Object participant Frank Landau