Public Art in Milan

For a long time, public art was mainly identified with the monument: a large and static sculpture, offered to the contemplation of the spectator or passer-by.

In the second half of the 1900s, the notion of aublic art expanded and modified, following the evolution of the artistic languages. A work of public art can be an ephemeral installation, an itinerary within the city context, a billboard or even an element of street furniture: a bench to sit on, a game for children, an element of relationship between the work and its users.

Public Art also embraces muralism: a pictorial expression intended for the outdoors, which received in recent years an increasing interest, both in big cities and in small centers. These works have different intents and goals: in some case they spread directly from the artist’s inspiration, in others they are conceived in a more participative way.

Mural art strongly connotes the space in which it is inscribed: murals and street art integrate and transform the urban landscape, overcoming the purely aesthetic content, to give a new look to the city.

In October 2020, the Office Art in Public Spaces was set up to collect and enhance the existing Public Art patrimony of the City of Milan, and to provide support to the creation of new urban art activities.

ArtLine Milano is a public art project of the Municipality of Milan: an open-air collection of artworks in the Citylife Public Park, freely accessible during the park’s opening hours.

The artworks, selected in 2015 from a competition between under-40 artists and on the basis of direct commissions to internationally established artists, interact with both the architecture of Zaha Hadid, Arata Isozaki and Daniel Libeskind and the natural development of the park, designed by the Gustafson Porter studio. These site-specific interventions are part of the redevelopment process of an urban area in Milan (once Piazza d’Armi and then Fiera Campionaria) and are therefore integrated into the natural and urban Citylife district.

The exhibition itinerary is composed of twelve installations: Atrio dello sguardo sul futuro by Mario Airò, Daily Desiderio by Riccardo Benassi, Hand and Foot by Judith Hopf, Red Pavilion by Alfredo Jaar, New Times for Other Ideas / New Ideas for Other Times by Maurizio Nannucci, Rudere by Adrian Paci, Filemone e Bauci by Ornaghi & Prestinari, Beso by Wilfredo Prieto, Cieli di Belloveso by Matteo Rubbi, Guardians by Kiki Smith, Coloris by Pascale Marthine Tayou and Vedovelle and Green Dragons by Serena Vestrucci. The artworks by Rossella Biscotti, Elisabetta Benassi, Jeremy Deller, Shilpa Gupta, Adelita Husni-Bey, Liliana Moro, Otobong NKanga are currently under a process of design and realization.

The project “A name in every neighborhood” aims to focus on the identity of the many districts of Milan and, thanks to a renovated graphic layout for their walls, to make visible the different souls living in them.

The first work, Bovisa makers in via Cosenz, was signed by the young artist Sorte. In 2021 the work dedicated to Portello (via Gardella) was realized by Rendo, the one in Lorenteggio (via dei Gigli) by Napal and the one in Città Studi (via Bassini) was realized by Serena Confalonieri.

Milano ArtWeek 2021 platform hosted the realization of a mural signed by Marco Goran Romano, Porta Romana bella, in corso Lodi.

The project developed in Gallaratese, where the artistic collaboration between artists Pao and Luz with non-profit organizations rooted in the neighborhood gave birth to the work now visible in via Appennini.

Since October 2021, a huge flyover in Piazzale Corvetto hosts the work by Pablo Pinxit and Loris Lillo; on it are recognizable some iconic elements of the area, as the Signurun de Milan or the Proust armchair by Alessandro Mendini (the designer’s studio is a local landmark).

In Quarto Oggiaro the façade of the local library, in via Otranto, was reinvented by Lucia Biancalana and tells us, with a figurative language, some highlights of the area, identified by the artist through a local survey promoted by the library itself: “growth”, “green” and “young”.

The students of “Primo Levi” high school, in via Pistoia, became the protagonists during the Baggio wall’s realization: they provided some representative keywords, then incorporated into the mural. The work was then conceived and painted by artist Alice Lotti, with the direct involvement of the students themselves.

The project “Un nome in ogni quartiere” is conceived by Milano&Partners and the Office Art in the Public Spaces of the Municipality of Milan with the contribution of Fondazione di Comunità Milano.

“Art in public places” office supports the creation of new urban art projects by local operators. Procedures for proposing a murals / street art project are described in the Vademecum, which can be consulted in the “Attachments” of this page.

For information and to propose urban art interventions, you can contact the “Art in public places” office at the e-mail address c.artepubblica@comune.milano.it.

From the dedicated page it is possible to download the forms to apply for the creation of street art / murals works on municipal surfaces, or to communicate the creation of works on private surfaces and other entities.

PUBLIC ART IN MILAN

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Public Art in Milan

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