"In the indefatigable discourse of contemporary art we come across all sorts of vacuous praise devoted chiefly to artists and curators. Such acclaim is obviously accompanied by verbal diarrhoea that ‘contextualises' and highlights the hypnotic power of the museum, and often, by considerations regarding the art market that are either assimilated or apocalyptical. One of the most neglected features in the system of art is that of private collecting, and yet it would prove almost impossible for art to follow its course, however changing and strange that course may be, without the presence of individuals who for various different reasons decide to purchase a painting, a sculpture, a video or a photograph. I have the feeling that it is not just a question of the collector being the great unknown, but also that to a fair degree he is considered a sort of ‘necessary evil'. (...)

Not even the so-called institutional theory of art duly analyses the role of the collector, who is not only someone who buys one or two pictures to decorate his home or office, but could be someone obsessed by such a passion that he ends up accumulating an amazing number of works. Curator Robert Storr began a lecture in which he ‘explained' his idea of a biennial, being as he was director of the Venice Biennale, evoking a salon in which he contemplated in ecstasy works by the great masters of the avant-garde. For the general public, the ideal place for an artistic encounter is the museum, the heritage of which they sense, to a certain extent, to be their own.

PRIVATE PASSIONS, PUBLIC VISIONS stems from the interest shown by the MARCO of Vigo in highlighting the importance of Galician private collections. Surveying some of the most noteworthy collections we immediately confirm that they contain so many works of such high quality that these could be displayed in a number of different shows that offer different ways of looking. Painting reigns supreme, but several excellent sculptures can also be found, alongside contemporary photographic works. The almost marginal presence of video, however, proves that it is still relatively difficult for private collectors to integrate such productions in their own specific selections. In all cases, these are private collections that transcend what we could bluntly describe as decorative-domestic needs. When over a hundred pieces, some of them in museum format, are brought together, as they are by these Galician art lovers, what I previously branded as poison has now clearly entered into the collector's bloodstream.

Chatting with the proprietors of the works I corroborated that art, in all cases, forms a crucial part of their lives. They keep abreast of the current artistic trends more intensely and knowledgeably than many apathetic critics, or pure and simply mercenaries, travelling to the different art fairs, covering the biennials and, above all, managing to establish complicities with certain artists. They do not match the stereotype of the art buyer in the late eighties obsessed with speculation; on the contrary, their attitudes lie closer to those of the patron and, of course, to those of individuals who painstakingly, passionately and critically seek the pieces they desire for their collections, which can be considered works in progress.

At a time when we come across ready-mades everywhere, the collector's passion is to find something unique, something which must needs be his. Every collection is to a certain degree autobiographical, in keeping with prejudices, obsessions and drives that are not easily disclosed. The work of art that has acquired visibility on display returns to the private sphere when it is purchased. The current MARCO project, based on Galician private collections, sends back to the white cube that which was for the most part in storage or housed in family domains. It provides, therefore, an opportunity for cultural recognition of the role of the private collector and constitutes a gesture of generosity on the part of the owners of works who offer the general public the possibility of enjoying and reflecting on what they previously endorsed with the passion of their gaze. Magnificent works by artists such as David Salle, Francisco Leiro, Bernardí Roig, Antonio Murado, Martin Kippenberger, Chelo Matesanz and Baltazar Torres, among almost a hundred pieces, publicly present a fragmentary yet exceptional map of contemporary creative thought. The museum is not only a place for distraction, a piece in the general tourist organisation, but a privileged space in which to establish fluent connections between public and private, where the collector's gaze, the curator's selection and the spectator's judgement can establish mutually enhancing relations."

Fernando Castro Flórez
Curator of the exhibition