I really started this collection in spring 2005 via the acquisition of the Guernica by Ron English. This was not my first purchase; the first one was an Erro. I remember that I spent € 7,000 in 2002 and before buying it at the Art Paris I spent several nights at white. Such an amount for a painting seemed too much to me. Now I spent much more without hesitating and not because my economy has become healthier, much the contrary because of all the investments in art I did in the meantime.

I liked art since I was young. When I was at the University I used to subscribe to art publications and always visited Museums: Impressionists like Magritte, German’s expressionists like Schiele or Beckmann, contemporary like Tapies and so on. After this period, a black hole because I focused on my career to become an international executive. Also because I spent some years in grey, Northern Italy.

At the beginning of 2000, when I was living in Paris, my interest re-emerged , probably because of the city of  hundreds of exhibitions and the seat of the FIAC. I saw things but I bought nothing, the prices seemed too high for “just” a piece of canvas. Better to invest in stocks. Now, looking back, I realize I was so blind…the Warhols I could buy then, now are unaffordable.

In 2005 I made the jump for the first big acquisition, the Guernica. I found myself with a lot of free time (I had stopped working) and I wanted to concentrate on what I would like to do. Writing, finding works on Internet, negotiate for them, to build something. In parallel to the interest for pop surrealism I had a fascination for Chinese contemporary art. Wang was the first I noticed in Paris. But at that time then I was not ready to spend so much money for a canvas. But now I wanted to have a Wang and I planned a trip to Luzern, where an art gallery had a few of his painting. At that time I discovered the art market: all the pieces were sold or on hold even before the exhibition started. After that, Internet and Internet to find the pieces, negotiate and pay for works I liked and that are now in my collection.

In April 2006 I decided to give coherence to my collection. Why? I visited the exhibition at Barcelona’s MACBA of  the Herbert collection, focused on minimalism, arte povera and conceptual art. I was attracted by the history behind the collectors. I picked the idea up: to build a collection to make people think about social issues. Later on I would try to find a name more « marketing oriented ». A few weeks ago, surfing through the Chicago art fair I found works from the artist Graupe-Pillard. Her images hit me, not only because of the technique, but mainly for the subjects she painted: the problems of the last century that are still the human problems of the current one: hunger, religious fanaticism, ethnic purges, refugees... The centrepieces on my collection I already had in my hands: Ron and Wang, two very good works to help people thinking. I only had to follow this road to collect more works. But I didn’t want to renounce to what I like: colour, comics, humour, unconventional things…

I am sure it will not be easy, because I want to find special works and pieces that are – let’s say so - out of the circuit, which people who buy art are not so interested in, and which therefore have less possibility to increase in value. Anyway, I’m decided to go this way. Since I was young I was involved in politics and social issues, it was the beginning of democracy and relatively freedom for Catalan people, so that would be a comeback to my origins, combining my art taste with ideas. I always need to find something to give to what and who surrounds me, I can not live just for myself, the collection could be my legacy. I’ve always hated to be anonymous and to see people following the crowd without thinking, without freedom of choice.

One year later, I hesitated to name the collection « an intellectual adventure ». In fact a collection, like love, does not happen suddenly; it is more an addition of small facts or steps. But an advertising I saw in magazine Juxtapoz gave me the inspiration to play with words, adapting the concept to my collection: « To think is contagious. Infect brains ».

Perfect, a collection based on the title of the website: “To think is contageous. Infect brains”. Why? Because of my involvement in social issues since my youth, in a world of mediocrity and homogeneity I like to push people to think. That’s why Chinese paintings have a big presence in the collection; it is the current frontier where artists still do their works with a social message or interest. I also try to buy the works of my favourite artists that are consistent with my idea of the collection.  For pop surrealism or lowbrow art, for example: I like Ausgang’s works but first I had to find a work who matched with the scheme of the collection, and I bought the work about the church.

The inflection point was the acquisition of The Sanya collection. To have at home some paintings is affordable; to buy 28 works in one shot… it is hard to put them on the walls. That’s why I started to think about doing this web site. On one hand to have the possibility to show my original collection, and on the other hand to have the chance to show The Sanya collection. It impressed me so much that I had the need to promote it, and the only way to do so widely is the Internet In one shot I have works from the greatest and well-known contemporary Chinese artists. Moreover, this is not a classical collection of acrylics on canvas, but works painted by the most contemporary artists using the traditional Chinese tools (brush, ink and traditional paper). Unique works, did only once, wonderful size (140x70cm), with coloured ink and with the added value to have been done with a complete freedom on the subject and with a tool that can not be modified: if you do a wrong movement, ink can not be over painted.

Truth be told, they are not matching with the scope of the collection, but this was an opportunity to buy something so special that I can not help doing it. And the pleasure when trough my laptop screen I heard that the bid was successful for the Internet bidder (that was me!) was incredible. From this moment I wanted to promote the collection and the idea behind the works.

Now, beginning 2008, I have to decide which direction to take: continuing with my original idea or to reinforce my collection with works from the artists of The Sanya collection. We will see.

The other idea behind being online is that since my life is not anchored to a place, also the collection should be available for the whole world to see. It is easier to circulate it online than physically. 

We are September 2008, the turmoil of Wall Street with the Financial institutions under pressure, the stock markets going down deeply, me loosing money and... I do not know how but I’ve started my photo collection. I’m following Grace Graupe-Pillard and Priscilla Bracks since 2006 and 2007, but as I said in several times I did not liked to collect photo, I did not understand his monetary value despite I appreciate very much the works I saw. This week I also noticed Lydia Venieri in XXXXXX. Putting the three together came to me the idea of start a collection of photo with the subject of the main collection, the consequences of the acts of the human beings. If I’d see the photos one after another probably I’ll never arrive to this conclusion, but the three at the same time appear to me a really interesting exercise. I’m putting a lot of money there, mainly if we consider what happens in the markets. But when myself connects with my brain I can not stop.