Via Tortona, Milan, is actually one the most interesting area of the city.The name is not found easily in the classic travel guidebook. But for those who love and work in the design, fashion and photography industries, Tortona is now a must. There, Superstudio Più has a big space for fairs too, not huge but surely quite well-located. Sure, it would be better to find some fashion shopping areas before getting into the art fair, specially since rain and cold still keep away the spring from Milan.
MIA is the first fair dedicated to photography in Italy and among the 230 exhibitors you can find a few international galleries and artists. But talking to some gallery owners it is obvious how much they want and need to know more about collecting outside Italy. MIA Fair wants to expend beyond the Italian borders. First, the organizers have invited well-known curators and collectors to join them in portfolio reviews and talks. Then, MIA is planning to move to Singapore next year in partnership with the Singapore International Photography Festival.
It is not yet possible to know the feedback from the market of the 2013 edition, surely collectors or just photography’s lovers have had the opportunity to see good works and to meet emerging and established artists. There is a positive feeling for MIA , the confirmation that photography has an increasing interest for a wider audience, both for print and book collectors.
The basement is dedicated to the independent publishers or self-publishers, such as the exhibition of the Best 50 Dummy Photobook Awards and then small but exciting book designers and publishers like Morel Books, Dienacht and Cesura. Other names of the publication world,such as Peliti Associati, offer an interesting idea on how to approach new collectors: a book/portfolio of photographers like Paolo Pellegrin, Massimo Siragusa, Giorgia Fiorio and Gianni Berengo Gardin with 6 signed prints in limited editions for a reasonable price. MIA Fair is surely interesting for all those people curious to know more about photography involved (or hopefuly involved) in the contemporary art system. Sorry for those who hate lists, but the one below is just a personal list not thorough and maybe too subjective. Considering MIA as a fair and the galleries as sellers of art, this could be my wish shopping list for this year.
Chan-hyo Bae (mc2 Gallery), Gian Paolo Barbieri (Artistocratic), Liu Bolin (Photo & Contemporary), Piergiorgio Branzi (Forma Galleria), Luca Campigotto (Bugno Art Gallery), Silvia Camporesi (Photographica Fine Art Gallery), Giovanni Chiaramonte, Giovanni Gastel (Photo & Contemporary), Massimiliano Gatti (RBcontemporary), Luigi Ghirri (Photographica Fine Art), Mario Giacomelli (Artistocratic), Alexander Gronsky (Grinberg Gallery – Galerie Iragui), Josef Hoflehner (Valid Foto BCN), Iris Hutegger (Gallery Eulenspiegel), Francesco Jodice (Michela Rizzo – Podbielski Contemporary), Bronek Kozka (VisionQuesT Gallery), Martino Lombezzi (Fotonomica), Ruth Orkin (Admira), Carlo Orsi (Photographica Fine Art), Ferdinando Scianna (Artistocratic), Paolo Ventura (Marcorossi artecontemporanea), Alec Von Bargen (Nuova Galleria Morone).
Eliseo Barbàra
MoST Artists
MIA Fair
May 10 – May 12, 2013
Superstudio Più
Via Tortona, 27
Milan
Italy
