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.

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.

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.

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)