ISBN—0-7710-0473-7
Sammlung Szabo
THE SZABO COLLECTION –
The Szabo Collection is a privately built collection of contemporary art developed over many years outside institutional frameworks.
It brings together works across different media, with a focus on editions, multiples, and conceptual position
Rotganzen, Gangrein consumptus fantasmaticus 2010
Thomas Bayrle, Feuer im weizen 1970
Roser Vinardell. no title 1970
Gary Hume, Hermaphrodite Polar Bear 2005
A significant part of the collection consists of editions and multiples.
This format allows works to circulate beyond singular ownership and fixed institutional contexts.
The collection is not organized around a fixed narrative or curatorial statement.
It follows an open logic of selection shaped over time and through context.
Gary Hume, Hermaphrodite Polar Bear 2005
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Selected positions include, among others:
Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Ai Weiwei, Maurizio Cattelan, Gilbert & George, Jonathan Meese, Rosemarie Trockel, Thomas Bayrle, Ed Ruscha, Wolfgang Tillmans, Banksy, David Shrigley, D*Face, Elmgreen & Dragset, Douglas Gordon, Tracey Emin, Meret Oppenheim, Piero Manzoni, Günther Uecker, Imi Knoebel.
It is guided not by market logic but by curatorial choice, critical engagement, and the ability to activate discourse.
Core conviction:
Art can be both mirror and catalyst – for society, for ourselves, and for the questions we choose to ask.
The collection is currently being opened to external perspectives in order to explore how it can be read in different contexts.
Sammlung Szabo
Robert Alexander Szabo
robert@sammlung-szabo.com
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The following texts are excerpts from previous curatorial and critical engagements with the collection in earlier exhibition contexts:
The Szabo Collection is not a typical art collection.
It is not housed in a spectacular building, nor does the collector have an inheritance to enable him to pursue this very costly and time-consuming passion.
The editions he has collected have been financed by tips Szabo received during his time as waiter in hotels and restaurants around the world.
Inspired by the idea that ‘art for all’ should be taken literally, Szabo began purchasing editions in 2004 and, alongside his work in the hotel and restaurant industry, began to explore art and its history.
He collects editions of well-known and new works, which are much more affordable than unique pieces. The purchase of art is democratised and thus stands in contrast to the art market, which is otherwise perceived as elitist.
‘It's just as important for me to be at openings to see the latest works by artists in galleries. I just fall back on the editions,’ says the collector.
The collection specialises in prints and graphics, but videos, LPs, sound works and NFTs have also found their way into it.
The collection, which has grown to over 100 works, aims to encourage others to engage with art. In order to show the works publicly, exhibitions are planned at various locations in Berlin at irregular intervals.
Hans Krestel
“In addition to painting and sculpture, as representatives of classical art genres, his collection also includes works from less established artistic media, such as textiles, crossover and sound works. Closely interwoven with Szabo's personality, the artworks address themes such as physicality, ego, memories and metaphysical worlds, and here and there even refer to personal borderline experiences in the collector's life. Socially critical and at the same time life-affirming, self-reflective and boundary-pushing – these are exemplary levels of meaning found in many of his collection pieces”.
Daniela von Damaros
Text Curator
with Joachim Baldauf
Artistic Producer
Sammlung Szabo
Curator
Prof. Gábor Ébli Moholy-Nagy University of Art & Design Budapest
Hans:
hans@heyhans.xyz
Robert
robert@sammlung-szabo