Art Fanatics

It is for the second time that Mucsarnok hosts an exhibition that introduces contemporary art collections from Hungary. Some may find this surprising because institutions of contemporary art and non-profit galleries are chiefly interested in the nature of contemporary art, the idea of a work of art, and their exhibitions follow atr historical and professional considerations. The practice of collectors, by contrast, is by and large defined by their commitment to art and their admiration for artistic practices. If it has philosophical aspects, the work of art is above all an object in the eye of the collector, a piece of tangible reality, the ownership and enjoyability of which relies on the fact that it is durable and can be put into storage.

Mucsarnok undertakes to present contemporary Hungarian collections because the practice of collection has become, over the past few years, a crucial circumstance in the local art scene, and collections are integral parts of the process of creating artistic value. At the same time, it is our experience that the distinction between works in collections and those in the exhibition galleries is becoming more and more blurred. This exhibition of contemporary collections can be considered an attempt to represent the new context of Hungarian contemporary art, to examine its condition.

With the Maecenas Days of 2008, we tried to call the public’s attention to what were then the largest and most important collections. The show revealed that beside Hungarians, these collections now also boast works by renowned foreign artists, providing an international context for the art of the former. This year’s display shifts the focus onto the personal aspects of the collections, the relationship of the artist and the collector who is as likely to be a patron as a friend. Support may be extended for the creation of a particular work, and we even feature two artist-collectors, who are good examples of this different sort of collegiality. It is our hope that this exhibition will not only delight with its quality, diversity, liberty and the variety of views that these collections hold of art, but will also bring into focus the importance of contemporary collections. The display is complemented with a roomful of information on the collectors presented now, as well as those introduced in 2008.