Contemporary Curated X Margherita Missoni
Online Auction: 14–21 April 2020 • 2:00 PM BST • London

Contemporary Curated 14–21 April 2020 • 2:00 PM BST • London

T he spring 2020 edition of Contemporary Curated in London is this year guest curated by Margherita Maccapani Missoni, fashion designer, taste-maker and creative director of M Missoni, an offshoot of her family's brand, Missoni, one of the world's leading fashion houses renowned for playful, patterned luxe-knitwear. For the eighth edition of Contemporary Curated, Maccapani Missoni has carefully selected works by the most exciting artists working today, employing a truly global approach to her collecting vision.

Works by established names sit alongside lesser-known names in a diverse roster; Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Victor Vasarely and George Condo sit alongside artists such as Eddie Martinez, Tomás Saraceno, Katherina Grosse, Fahrelnissa Zeid and Etel Adnan.

Margherita Missoni
Margherita Missoni

You can explore Margharita's highlights from the sale below, and find out how to register and bid online for Contemporary Curated which will run from 14 - 21 April.

"I selected these works for their contrasting materials and textures – a play of opposites that I gravitate towards in my own designs”
George Condo
ANTIPODAL REUNION
Estimate: 650,000 – 800,000 GBP
George Condo
"I’ve always been irresistibly drawn and simultaneously repulsed by a grotesque aesthetic, I can’t stop myself from staring and then turn the other way – Condo is one of the only examples where grotesque is so well-balanced that I could live with it, and I would actually love to. That on top of the brilliant use of colour of course."

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Yayoi Kusama
STAR
Estimate: 150,000 – 200,000 GBP
Yayoi Kusama
"Her work has an authenticity that I don’t often see in contemporary art. Perhaps because her work is not only a revelation of her inner psychic reality but also a sort of time capsule of the emancipatory and utopian moment of the late 1960s. Despite this, this particular work, which I didn’t know, feels ironically relevant for the here and now - taking us into a world of microorganisms, bacteria and viruses."

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Tomás Saraceno
AIRPORT CITY/ CLOUD-CITY/ 6 MODULES 60 SOLAR
Estimate: 30,000 – 50,000 GBP
Tomás Saraceno
"Saraceno – who describes himself as someone who “lives in and beyond the planet Earth” – takes inspiration primarily from the idea of breaking down geographical, physical, behavioral and social barriers. But also from the idea of life that is sustainable for man and planet. This piece was produced in the same time frame as the installation Cloud Cities / Air-Port-City and the energy communicated not just with the choice of using transformers, but also with the use of color, these three elements together make it very special to me, as they bring back memories whenever I see it."

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William Anastasi
UNTITLED
Estimate: 25,000 – 35,000 GBP
William Anastasi
“If Duchamp’s aim was to kill art, Anastasi displays the corpse, in various stages of decay” I once read this comment about his art, I still can’t find better words to describe his genius artistic journey through over 50 years. I personally find his work some of the most fascinating in terms of aesthetic."

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Katharina Grosse
UNTITLED
Estimate: 35,000 – 45,000 GBP
Katharina Grosse
"The artist’s gesture is a concept that can’t just be framed, incapsulated or limited in anyway. Katarina’s references to Twombly’s intoxicating energy can be translated through Grosse’s vivid use of colour. Her sense of color is very straightforward and I find it fascinating how she throws off predetermined ideas about colour schemes and palettes. She’s the perfect example of how an artist’s body of work can be the inspirational starting point for one of mine collections."

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Tim Noble and Sue Webster
FUCKING BEAUTIFUL (HOT PINK NEON)
Estimate: 40,000 – 60,000 GBP
Tim Noble & Sue Webster
"No one can beat the DIY approach of aggregating discarded objects and turning debris into art as they do. It’s a piece of trash we will recycle into something that will become a piece of history. And they still make history, I mean Sue’s Shoreditch house is itself a walk-in museum! Also, their approach to art is very similar to mine with fashion. I feel lost with millions of things available and I end up choosing the discarded ones, giving them a new meaning and a new life in M Missoni’s collections."

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Imi Knoebel
TRINITY BAY
Estimate: 180,000 – 250,000 GBP
Imi Knoebel
Knoebel’s infatuation with seriality and colour is matched by his staunch resistance of art theory. “When I am asked about what I think when I look at a painting,” Knoebel has remarked, “I can only answer that I don’t think at all; I look at it and can only take in the beauty, and I don’t want to see it in relation to anything else. Only what I see, simply because it has its own validity”

VIEW LOT
Margherita Missoni: True ColoursAs Margherita Maccapani Missoni prepares to guest curate Contemporary Curated at Sotheby’s London, Edward Behrens talks to her about her personal aesthetic, where she finds inspiration and what she collects.
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Artist, Radical, Woman, OtherAhead of Contemporary Curated, we explore number of era-defining works by five revolutionary artists whose contribution and legacy is more relevant than ever.
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George Condo, Antipodal Reunion
George Condo's Ode to PicassoA colossal painting by George Condo, ‘Antipodal Reunion’, is offered in Contemporary Curated, and incorporates art-historical references from the great masters of portraiture to the dynamic flourish of American popular culture, in a work imbued with artist’s trademark artificial realism.
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Tour the exhibition

Join Head of Sale Ashkan Baghestani as he presents a behind-the-scenes look at highlights from Contemporary Curated.

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