BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Matteo Novarese

SOF:ART – Bologna, Italy

Matteo Novarese infront of Camilla Alberti, ‘Unbinding Creatures, Organism 26’ 2021, Jimmy Milani ‘Untitled (my bookshelf)’ 2022. Photographer Guido Calamosca, Courtesy SOF:ART.
Matteo Novarese infront of Camilla Alberti, ‘Unbinding Creatures, Organism 26’ 2021, Jimmy Milani ‘Untitled (my bookshelf)’ 2022. Photographer Guido Calamosca, Courtesy SOF:ART.

After two very intense years, ten shows and more than forty artists presented at SOF:ART, they’ve decided to expand their view and let their ambitions become a reality.
A new location in Corte Isolani 1/c, Bologna, has been contaminated with Contemporary Art. The new space with a strong architectural soul from the middle age is the new stage, where they recently opened the first show “Feels like home” with eleven magnificent Italian and international artists touching most of the media present in the collection: installation, paintings, collages and sculptures.

The journey through their contemporary art collection continues, but new scenarios are blooming.

Here you can find an interview with Matteo Novarese, who is the collector behind SOF:ART. He has a great passion for contemporary art and the desire to share it with the world.

Why do you collect?

I do collect because I love art. This sounds like a very trivial answer, but it is the pure truth.
When you are immersed in a world that enriches you as a person humanly and culturally, in social relationships, opening your mind to stimulating and entertaining horizons, well how can you not love that?

Regarding your collection, what role/value holds the first piece of artwork you purchased?

The first artwork represents my whole self, for so many reasons. First, because with a background like mine that was completely out of the art world, it gave me a way to create a collection starting by myself following my own taste and vision. The street art movement involved me within this magnificent world, I began to travel to see the works on all the walls of the most important European capitals, I identified the artist in Paris who had impressed me the most, and owning one of his works made me finally feel like a collector.

How has collecting changed your approach to art?

Well, since my first purchase I change my approach to art. Before was something beautiful that I could enjoy time to time, when I was traveling, going into museum etc. After my first purchase I realized that I could appreciate a work of art or already thinking more broadly a collection of my own every day of my life. This thought has pushed me as far as I have gone and is the flame that gives me an increasingly ambitious perspective for the collection, which now has nearly 500 works and two private exhibition spaces.

What is your biggest hope for the future of art and collecting?

My biggest hope is to have fine academy students being more involved into the art system at the very beginning of their career.
I think that the collector can play an important role for their growth, and could become a clue figure for them, providing some ‘insider’ advices in order to let them have a better understanding of the market, how to catch the attention of the galleries and how to select them.

In what way will digitization enrich collecting (digital and physical) art?

Honestly my view over the digital art is not really positive (if for digital art we intend NFT’s world).
I think that digitalization will be a great support to manage the collection for example: right now there are a lot of super nice programs allowing to have a very useful archive and a wide view of the collection in a click.

What was the most unexpected private art collection that you encountered?

The most unexpected private Art collection is without a doubt the Rachofsky collection in Dallas, that I recently visited.

Tamo Jugeli ‘Untitled’ 2022, Vivian Greven ‘Vira VII’ 2022, Kelly Akashi ‘Life forms’ 2022. Photographer Guido Calamosca, Courtesy SOF:ART.
Tamo Jugeli ‘Untitled’ 2022, Vivian Greven ‘Vira VII’ 2022, Kelly Akashi ‘Life forms’ 2022. Photographer Guido Calamosca, Courtesy SOF:ART.

Collectors (77)

Narda van 't Veer

The Narda van 't Veer Collection – Monnickendam, Netherlands

Rashid Al Khalifa

RAK ART FOUNDATION – Riffa, Bahrain

Olivier Chow

The Olivier Chow Collection – Lausanne, Switzerland

Valeria Napoleone

Valeria and Gregorio Napoleone Collection – London, UK

Martin Steppacher

Gallery Durchgang – Basel, Switzerland

Carmelo Graci

Graci Collection – Mantova, Italy

Dr. William Lim

Living Collection – Hong Kong

NICOLA ERNI

Nicola Erni Collection – Steinhausen, Switzerland

Lukas Jakob

Jakob Collection – Gundelfingen, Germany

Claus Busch Risvig

Bech Risvig Collection – Silkeborg, Denmark

Joseph Awuah-Darko

The Terra Collection Of African Contemporary Art – Accra, Ghana | London, UK

INGRID AND THOMAS JOCHHEIM

Ingrid and Thomas Jochheim Collection – Berlin, Germany

Michał Borowik

Michał Borowik Collection – Warsaw, Poland

Bernardo Paz

Instituto Inhotim – Centro de Arte Contemporânea e Jardim Botânico – Brumadinho, Brazil

Tony Salamé

Aïshti Foundation – Beirut, Lebanon

Nadia & Rajeeb Samdani

Samdani Art Foundation (SAF), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Lord David Cholmondeley

Houghton Hall – King's Lynn, Great Britain

Galila Barzilaï-Hollander

Galila's P.O.C., Brussels, Belgium

Martin Margulies

The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse – Miami, United States of America

Christine and Andrew Hall

Hall Art Foundation - Reading, USA & Derneburg, Germany

Qiao Zhibing

TANK Shanghai and Qiao Space - Shanghai, China

Christen Sveaas

Kistefos Museet, Jevnaker, Norway

Noemi Givon

Givon Art Forum – Tel Aviv, Israel

Michael Buxton

Buxton Contemporary - Melbourne, Australia

Seth Stolbun

The Stolbun Collection – Houston, USA

Jochen Zeitz

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) - Cape Town, Africa

Dominique & Sylvain Levy

DSLCollection – Paris, France

Andrea von Goetz

Sammlung Blankenburg – Hamburg, Germany

Gordon Elliott

The Elliott Eyes Collection - Sydney, Australia

The Vague Space

Christian Kaspar Schwarm on the first solo presentation of his collection at the Weserburg Bremen

Anita Zabludowicz

Zabludowicz Collection – London, United Kingdom

Anastasios A. Gkekas

The Office Collection - Nicosia, Cyprus

Rik Reinking

WAI - Woods Art Institute, Wentorf bei Hamburg, Germany

Maria Didrichsen

Didrichsen Art Museum – Helsinki, Finland

João Carlos de Figueiredo Ferraz

Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz (IFF) - São Paulo, Brazil

Julia Stoschek

Julia Stoschek Collection – Dusseldorf, Germany

Maurizio Morra Greco

Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy

Christian & Karen Boros

Sammlung Boros – Berlin, Germany

Timo Miettinen

Salon Dahlmann – Berlin, Germany

Marli Hoppe-Ritter

Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter – Waldenbuch, Germany

Désiré Feuerle

The Feuerle Collection – Berlin, Germany

Gudrun & Bernd Wurlitzer

Wurlitzer Pied A Terre Collection – Berlin, Germany

Corbett Lyon

Lyon Housemuseum – Melbourne, Australia

Geert Verbeke-Lens

Verbeke Foundation – Kemzeke, Belgium

László Vass

Vass Collection – Veszprém, Hungary

Daisuke Miyatsu

Dream House – Ichikawa, Japan

Samara Walbohm & Joe Shlesinger

Scrap Metal Gallery – Toronto, Canada

Charles Riva

Charles Riva Collection – Brussels, Belgium

Venke & Rolf Hoff

KaviarFactory – Lofoten, Norway

Alain Servais

Servais Family Collection – Brussels, Belgium

Ivo Wessel

Sammlung Ivo Wessel - Berlin, Germany

Ramin Salsali

Salsali Private Museum – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Vittorio Gaddi

Collezione Nunzia e Vittorio Gaddi – Lucca, Italy

Miguel Leal Rios

Fundação Leal Rios – Lisbon, Portugal

Gertraud and Dieter Bogner

Kunstraum Buchberg – Gars am Kamp, Austria

Bob Rennie

Rennie Collection at Wing Sang – Vancouver, Canada

Heiner Wemhöner

Sammlung Wemhöner – Herford, Germany

Lin Han

M WOODS – Beijing, China

Kenny Goss

The Goss-Michael Foundation – Dallas, USA

Karsten Schmitz

Arbeitswohnung Federkiel – Leipzig, Germany

Devon Dikeou

The Dikeou Collection - Denver, USA

Thomas Olbricht

ME Collectors Room Berlin/Stiftung Olbricht – Berlin, Germany

Mera & Donald Rubell

Rubell Family Collection – Miami, USA

Pétur Arason

Safn – Berlin, Germany / Reykjavík, Iceland

Steffen Hildebrand

G2 Kunsthalle – Leipzig, Germany

Frédéric de Goldschmidt

Frédéric de Goldschmidt – Brussels, Belgium

Daniel Teo

The Private Museum – Singapore, Singapore

Claudio Cosma

Sensus – Luoghi per l’arte Contemporanea – Florence, Italy

Michał Borowik

Michał Borowik Collection – Warsaw, Poland

Herbert Gerisch

Herbert-Gerisch-Stiftung - Neumünster, Germany

José Berardo

Museu Coleção Berardo – Lisbon, Portugal

Bärbel Grässlin and Karola Kraus

Sammlung Grässlin - St. Georgen, Germany

Joëlle and Eric Romba

Rocca Stiftung – Berlin, Germany

Myriam and Amaury de Solages

Maison Particulière – Brussels, Belgium

Friedrich Gräfling

Sammlung Fiede - Aschaffenburg, Germany