BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Maurizio Morra Greco

Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy

Maurizio Morra Greco. Photo: Camillo Ripaldi. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Maurizio Morra Greco. Photo: Camillo Ripaldi. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Jimmie Durham, installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco, 2019. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Jimmie Durham, installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco, 2019. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco

As a dentist by profession, how do you dedicate and manage your time towards your collection and foundation?

As a dentist, I am very busy on a daily basis. But my love for art is so strong that there is always time for it. Without any doubts, one has to count on highly professional staff to support complex tasks.

Pre-Covid-19, were you traveling frequently for the purpose of following the art world or were you focusing more locally?

I have always traveled a lot to be able to stay informed and to meet the artists and protagonists of the art world. Of course we all know it is currently impossible to travel, but this does not prevent me from having the usual international relationships and exchanges that I am used to. The web is certainly of great help.

Does your collection follow a specific theme or particular artists?

My collection is mainly based on my personal taste. However for years now, I have been trying to build what I consider to be the significant artistic proposal of the last decades. Naturally, as I said, that still reflects my gaze.

Fondazione Morra Greco, Palazzo Caracciolo di Avellino. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Fondazione Morra Greco, Palazzo Caracciolo di Avellino. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Wilfredo Prieto, Chiudere un occhio, 2019 (installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco). Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Wilfredo Prieto, Chiudere un occhio, 2019 (installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco). Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco

Has the way you collect changed since establishing the collection as Fondazione Morra Greco in a centuries-old Palazzo?

I wouldn’t say so. Artists have surely found it to be a particularly stimulating challenge, and it seems to me that it pushes their creativity a lot. In addition to the pleasure of working in a city like Naples, the artists find themselves to be confronted, inevitably, in the Foundation spaces, which are incredible to work in.

How do you think the attitude towards to collecting and private institutions might change post Covid-19?

The art world will surely suffer a significant economic backlash. There could be big problems in buying and selling works of art. On the other hand, I imagine that many speculations will fall, “purifying” our world and thus highlighting operators of real quality. Additionally, this condition will give further stimuli to the creativity of artists. It is clear that in order to support the work of artists, the role of Institutions like mine is even more important now.

Cathy Wilkes, Thief, 2002. Courtesy Collezione Morra Greco, Napoli
Cathy Wilkes, Thief, 2002. Courtesy Collezione Morra Greco, Napoli
Shirin Neshat, Fervor (Crowd from front, Couple looking at each other), 2000. Courtesy Collezione Morra Greco, Napoli
Shirin Neshat, Fervor (Crowd from front, Couple looking at each other), 2000. Courtesy Collezione Morra Greco, Napoli

Are you actively visiting online viewing rooms during this crisis?

Not more than I used to in the past. In this peculiar moment, the feeling of bewilderment is predominant and it is more important to use it as a tool for personal reflection.

How do you feel about this shift of the art world to online? As a space usually serving the public, is there a need to respond and come up with an online concept, even be it on Instagram, or are things too complex for now, especially being located in Italy?

It has always been vital to have people visiting the spaces of the Foundation. Following the current impossibility of attending exhibitions, it almost seems that through the web, the online experience of the artworks or shows is the same as the physical one. Look, the art lives for a physical exchange between the work and the viewer and this cannot be replaced by the digital experience. It is rather important to highlight the role that the web plays in increasing content and spreading information enormously. Nevertheless, I am very open to the experiences that can arise in the digital field for the digital world.

Fondazione Morra Greco, Palazzo Caracciolo di Avellino. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Fondazione Morra Greco, Palazzo Caracciolo di Avellino. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Peter Bartoš, Environmental Aesthetics, 2019 (installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco), curated by Mira Keratová, architectural display by Petra Feriancová. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco
Peter Bartoš, Environmental Aesthetics, 2019 (installation view at Fondazione Morra Greco), curated by Mira Keratová, architectural display by Petra Feriancová. Photo: Maurizio Esposito. Courtesy Fondazione Morra Greco

What is a beautiful moment from Fondazione Morra Greco that you would like to share with us?

The reopening of the Foundation in June 2019, after four years of restoration works, has been an extraordinary moment for me. What an enormous gratification to show the beauty of the renovated historical spaces and its exciting fusion with contemporary art.

(See further inside with two Online Exhibitions here and here on Independent Collectors)

More Information on Fondazione Morra Greco

Collectors (77)

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Olivier Chow

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Valeria Napoleone

Valeria and Gregorio Napoleone Collection – London, UK

Matteo Novarese

SOF:ART – Bologna, Italy

Martin Steppacher

Gallery Durchgang – Basel, Switzerland

Carmelo Graci

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Dr. William Lim

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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

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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

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