Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea Towards miart 2019 Fondazione Fiera Milano in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo for the first time publicly presents its contemporary art collection

Milan, 12 March 2019 – The Fondazione Fiera Milano art collection makes its debut at Gallerie d’Italia with the exhibition Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea. La Collezione di Fondazione Fiera Milano. Organised in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, the show will be on display from 14 March to 7 May 2019 in the Sala delle Colonne. 

Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea presents for the first time to the public the artworks that Fondazione Fiera Milano has acquired at miart, the international fair of modern and contemporary art. The purpose of the exhibition is to highlight the diverse languages, materials, and provenances of the foundation’s acquisitions since 2012. 
The 43 artworks on display have been selected by Fondazione Fiera from among the 82 works of the collection in order to provide a significant sample of the international artistic scene from the second half of the twentieth century to the present day. 

The layout design, curated by architect Andrea Anastasio, recalls an imaginary domus, with a sequence of rooms and niches that reveal while also protecting the artworks. 

Michele Coppola, Intesa Sanpaolo Art, Culture and Historical Heritage Head Officer, has stated: “Over the last few years Gallerie d’Italia has opened its Sala delle Colonne to contemporary art exhibitions establishing a dialogue with our twentieth-century art collections. Following a series of temporary exhibitions dedicated to single protagonists of the contemporary art scene, today – one month before the opening of miart – this space welcomes the Fondazione Fiera Milano international collection, an initiative integral to the role of Intesa Sanpaolo as miart main partner. Once more, our Bank confirms its great commitment towards the artistic life of the city and renovates its effective support, shared with museums and institutions, towards increasing its cultural offer.”

“The exhibition at Gallerie d’Italia – explains Chairman of Fondazione Fiera Milano Giovanni Gorno Tempini – represents a journey through our art collection that since the creation of our acquisition fund seven years ago, has now reached a conspicuous definition in terms of quality and quantity. Fondazione Fiera Milano sets out to strengthen its role as an active agent not only concerned with economic aspects but also with the cultural value stemming from its heritage, making it accessible for everybody to enjoy. Following the success of the exhibition that ended in January 2019 at Triennale Milano dedicated to one hundred years of Italian social and entrepreneurial history at the Fiera Campionaria di Milano through our Historical Archive, I hope Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea will achieve an equally positive result in terms of public thanks to the consolidated and productive collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, with an exhibition open to the community and set in the heart of Milan, a city that since last year has been listed among the ten world capitals for culture and contemporary art.”  

Since 2012, year after year, through its fund, Fondazione Fiera Milano has been increasing its collection acquiring selected artworks at miart and at Investec Cape Town Art Fair, the yearly contemporary art exhibition organised by Fiera Milano in Cape Town. The acquisitions are decided by a commission chaired by the president of Fondazione Fiera Milano and composed of a team of international experts. In 2017 the artworks previously acquired by Associazione Amici di miart also became part of the collection.
The entire collection is preserved in the headquarters of Fondazione Fiera, Palazzina degli Orafi – the historical location in Largo Domodossola. A completely digitalised archive is accessible at  www.fondazionefieramilano.it.

Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea represents an ideal prologue to miart, an event that sees the participation of Fondazione Fiera Milano in the role of partner and Intesa Sanpaolo in that of main partner. miart is the international modern and contemporary art fair organised by Fiera Milano: from 5 to 7 April 2019, pavilion 3 of fieramilanocity opens its doors to 185 galleries from 19 different countries, displaying works by modern, contemporary, and emerging artists, and by established and experimental designers. 
The exhibition is part of the Art Week programme featuring a series of proposals dedicated to modern and contemporary art promoted by Comune di Milano|Cultura and miart, complementing the fair with a week of initiatives and collateral events confirming the city’s role as new international cultural centre, as indicated by the 2018 Deloitte Art Report.