BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Fluxia – Milan, Italy

Strive to discover new approaches in contemporary art

At the origin of Milanese contemporary art gallery Fluxia there stands an artist, Luca Francesconi, who introduced gallery founders Valentina Suma and Angelica Bazzana to each other. "Luca Francesconi and I used to run an independent art space together with artist Luigi Presicce," Valentina Suma recalls. "It was called Brown and it was the first non-profit art space in Milan. After meeting Angelica Bazzana, who had worked at Milanese gallery Primo Marella, we decided not to limit ourselves to non-profit schemes and to open a commercial gallery."

Exhibition view: Etienne Chambaud, Courtesy Fluxia, Milan
Exhibition view: Etienne Chambaud, Courtesy Fluxia, Milan

Fluxia was inaugurated in 2009 in the area of Porta Venezia, which hosts many other galleries. In 2012 the gallery was relocated to another gallery area: Lambrate, a neighborhood that has profited from thorough renovation work in the 1990s and is now a hip city center. Fluxia is located in the so-called Luna building on Via Ventura, which takes its name from a neon work by artist Patrick Tuttofuoco on the facade. The name of the gallery reveals a lot about its program: "Like the word Fluxia, which comes from flow, our program is continually evolving," Valentina Suma explains. "We do not want to propose just one kind of content and artists who all resemble one another. Our artists express different ideas but are connected by the fact that they do research and strive to discover new approaches in contemporary art."

Fluxia currently represents seven emergent artists, three of whom are Italian and four from other countries. Most of them had their first solo show at the gallery. For example Marlie Mul, a Dutch artist based in Berlin and London who showed at the gallery in 2012. In just one year, Mul has gained international attention. In 2013 Fluxia presented her so-called "paddles" at Frieze London, which were all sold out within few hours. Three of them were bought for the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, where they currently are on display.

Valentina Suma and Angelica Bazzana discover some artists through the Internet, some through word of mouth. Sometimes curators conceive shows for the gallery and propose new artists. This is the case for Olivia Erlanger and Andrew Norman Wilson, who will show at Fluxia this March during the Milanese art fair MiArt in a double exhibition curated by Alex Ross. Meanwhile, at the fair, Fluxia will exhibit in the section THENnow, where artists of different generations are engaged in dialogue. Luca Francesconi will be exhibiting for Fluxia, next to Jimmie Durham, represented by Sprovieri Gallery.

Besides MiArt, Fluxia has been participating in Liste in Basel since the gallery's foundation, and in other fairs like Sunday and Frieze London, Arco in Madrid, and Paramount Ranch in Los Angeles. "We are going to increase our presence in the United States," Valentina Suma says, "because we like how American collectors approach collecting: they have an adventurous spirit and let themselves get carried away."

Valentina Suma and Angelica Bazzana
Valentina Suma and Angelica Bazzana

In general, it is important for Fluxia to involve art collectors in its discourse. "We are not interested in the single sale," Valentina Suma explains, "we want to create a continued dialogue." And this conversation is not a one-way street: "By listening to the collectors' experiences we learn a lot," Valentina Suma says, "for us they are like an encyclopedia of the art market."

Silvia Anna Barrilà

The freelance journalist Silvia Anna Barrilà is specialized in the art market. Since 2008 she has been writing for the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore and for international media covering art, including Damn, Auction Central News, Artinvestor, and Monopol.

All images via Fluxia; Photographer Andrea Rossetti

More Information on Fluxia

Galleries (40)

Futura Art Gallery — Pietrasanta, Italy

A gallery that unites established and emerging artists

Gianni Manhattan - Vienna, Austria

Young, International and Critically Astute

Misako & Rosen — Tokyo, Japan

Redefining the Conversation Around Aesthetics

Tiwani Contemporary – London, Great Britain

The London Gallery Promoting African Self-definition

Frutta Gallery — Rome, Italy

Understanding Tradition Without Hesitating to Break It

Contemporary Fine Arts – Berlin, Germany

From West to East and Back Again: a Berlin Institution That’s Made Its Mark

Bo Bjerggaard – Copenhagen, Denmark

Showcasing Figurative Painting With a Side of Communal Spirit

Pierre-Yves Caër Gallery – Paris, France

The Parisian gallery creating a home for Japanese artists in the European art market.

Blindspot Gallery — Hong Kong, China

Throwing a Spotlight on Local Artists

Vane – Newcastle upon Tyne, Great Britain

The Not-for-profit Space Offering Context And Critique In Newcastle

H’art Gallery — Bucharest, Romania

One of Bucharest’s Oldest Private-Run Galleries

LambdaLambda Lambda – Pristina, Kosovo

Mastering the Language in the Kosovan Capital

Deák Erika Galéria – Budapest, Hungary

Beyond Budapest’s Baths

The Breeder Gallery – Athens, Greece

Breeding New Forms in Athens

Tim Van Laere Gallery – Antwerp, Belgium

An autonomous gallery representing both upcoming and well-established artists

Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler – Berlin, Germany

One of the most cutting-edge galleries in Berlin

Galerie Fons Welters – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

A Doorway to Amsterdam’s Contemporary Art

Bosse & Baum – London, United Kingdom

Ambitious perspectives in Peckham

TM51 – Oslo, Norway

Three Galleries in One – Oslo’s Most Accessible Space

mfc-michèle didier – Paris, France

A Space that Reflects the Artistic Discipline

V1 Gallery – Copenhagen, Denmark

Challenging the Boundaries of Art

Upstream Gallery – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tackling the Shift Between the Analog and Digital in a Post Internet World

Galerie Forsblom – Helsinki, Finland

Bringing international contemporary art to the Finnish capital

The Journal Gallery – New York, USA

Saving New York from Becoming a Sale-Focused Gallery Wasteland

Peres Projects – Berlin, Germany

Bridging the Gap Between Los Angeles and Berlin

Galeria OMR – Mexico City

Mexico City’s advocate for modern artistic tendencies and international contemporary art

LOYAL – Stockholm, Sweden

A Gallery that Pushes the Dialogue Around Young and International Art in Sweden’s Capital

Chimera-Project — Budapest, Hungary

Post-contemporary interest in aesthetics while eagerly re-constructing and defining traditions

La New Gallery — Madrid, Spain

Celebrating contemporary art in all its multi-faceted forms

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery – Sydney, Australia

Her uncanny ability to recognize unique Pacific Rim talent

Take Ninagawa Gallery – Tokyo, Japan

Promoting emerging Japanese artists within a cross-generational, international framework

RaebervonStenglin – Zurich, Switzerland

It is much more about concepts, long conversations and long-term commitment

Galerie Emanuel Layr – Vienna, Austria

Finding the right chord among the various artists

Platform China – Beijing/Hongkong, China

This shows how much prejudgment there still is

Gaudel de Stampa – Paris, France

“Discreet” seems to be the perfect adjective

NON – Istanbul, Turkey

The dawn of an era of collaboration

Vermelho – São Paulo, Brazil

There were no galleries open to a new generation of artists working in a nontraditional way

Eleven Rivington – New York, USA

Newfound talent and rediscovers international artists for a new audience

Ibid. – London, Great Britain

Rather than listing names