The event is in its second edition. For this edition, 23 artists have been invited to dialogue with an industrial building that is being transformed: the future destination includes the creation of an exhibition space and various units (lofts, ateliers, workshops) that can share services and common areas. The event is taking place in what was until a few years ago the headquarters of an important Milanese printing company, GEA, Grafiche Editoriali Ambrosiane, which from 1960 to 2000 printed art books and catalogs for publishers all over the world: its configuration and the visible signs of its recent history allow the artists to work in variously evocative spaces of different sizes (small rooms and large surfaces) and the public to access the works, projections and installations through a fascinating path full of unexpected signals and presences.

The artists: They were all born after 1970 and, although young, many of them are already present on the scene and in the market and have participated in important events in public and private institutions. All are interested in developing a project in an evolving industrial space and in a neighborhood that is experiencing, like other suburbs in the world, a moment of transition.

The Meeting at MiArt: The opening of Assab One 2004 takes place concurrently with the inauguration of MiArt in order to offer both artists and visitors the greatest opportunities for exchanges and encounters. The previous edition (May 2002) was a great success with the press and the public, and many of the artists who had participated are now active on the international scene and have recently participated in major events (Grimaldi at the Venice Biennale, Pietrella and Mangano at the Prague Biennale, Cariello at Centro Pecci in Prato, Bertocchi at Palais de Tokyo, Favaretto at PS1 in NY, Migliora at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, Spaziani at S.M.A.K. in Ghent).
On Sunday, May 16 at 5 p.m., at MiArt at the Hall 1 Conference Hall (Fiera Milano / Porta Sei Febbraio), Roberto Pinto and Elena Quarestani will introduce a meeting on the theme: Young Italian artists, promotion, valorization, visibility. Speakers will include Tommaso Corvi Mora (Corvi Mora Gallery), Giuliana Setari (Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art), Maurizio Rigillo (Galleria Continua), Alberto Garutti, among others.

Two awards for Assab One artists:

• From among the artists invited to Assab One 2004, a panel of experts will select the winner of the scholarship sponsored by the Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the Sports and Youth Sector of the City of Milan and the Centre Culturel Français à Milan, which includes a six-month stay at the Centre International d’Accueil et d’Echanges des Récolletes in Paris.
• ACACIA association of friends of Italian contemporary art will select among the artists participating in Assab One 2004 the winner of the “Emerging Artists” prize. The prize consists of the acquisition of a work that will later be donated to the future Museum of Contemporary Art in Milan. It will be awarded to the artist who in the context of Assab One 2004 has best interpreted the dialogue of his or her work with the space.

A series of side events: during the three weeks the exhibition is open, the space at 1 Assab Street will host meetings, book and project presentations, performances and more. The program will be available after the opening.

The catalog, in Italian and English, with the projects and back-stage of the artists’ settlement in the space will be available at the exhibition.

And in addition: Ciclofficina Project, curated by Camera d’Aria.
During the opening hours of the exhibition, a bicycle repair and rental service will be available to visitors in the courtyard at 1 Assab Street with a map for visiting the various amenities and parks in the neighborhood.