The adventure of discovery

Curated by Alenka Gregorič, Artistic Director of City Art Gallery Ljubljana and CC Tobačna 001 (MGML)

“When exhibiting private collections, it is important to capture the collector's spirit. A private collection is not only a matter of taste, prestige, and the collector's perceptions on art, but also a matter of passion and joy. Art collectors are trying to depart from the path of material reality and find some spiritual shelter by immersing themselves into the metaphysical and metaphorical world of art – a world which translates the mundane into a timeless image of art. Good art knows no boundaries, it has no expiration date and yet it is no escape from reality, but rather stretches the world beyond our mere mortal perceptions – and by doing so, it expands our horizons and offers us to view our everyday life from a hitherto unknown or ignored angle. And what is most important – art offers us unexpected answers and unique views on our world and the society within it, too often veiled by the vanity and arrogance of the modern world.

Adventures across the fields of contemporary art manifest for Imre Balogh the excitement of discovery, through the selection of artworks not yet canonised by art historians and via the personal relationship established with the artists. His international collection reflects the continuous search and conscious build up, with focus on artists from the broader Central and Eastern European region, many of whom living and working in countries away from their birthplace. The selection of works from his collection and their spatial placement was shaped by the exhibition space of the Balassi Institute in Ljubljana. The works presented in the entrance hall are linked through the common element of line, or rather, horizontal and vertical, straight and curvy lines. In the second room, the works make up a playful narrative and commentary on human interrelationships, while the works presented in the display windows are all based on light as their main element. The exhibition features works from artists of various generations, techniques and forms of expression. They are united into a whole by the three conceptually connected segments based on the physical and conceptual characteristics of the individual rooms where they are exhibited.”

Alenka Gregorič

Artists exhibited: Emese Benczúr, James Clar, Gunter Damisch, Sári Ember, Dénes Farkas, Tibor Gayor, Katalin Hetey, IRWIN, Pravdoliub Ivanov,Veronika Jakatics-Szabó, Janez Janša, Bartosz Kokosinski, Tamás Konok, Hans Kotter, Dóra Maurer, Éva Mayer, Marge Monko, Bernd Oppl, Attila Rajcsók, Daniel Spoerri, Attila Szűcs, Alexander Tinei, Gyula Várnai.