Grup de Treball

This exhibition offered a comprehensive overview of the collective creation carried out by Grup de Treball in its three-year lifespan (1973-1975).
Grup de Treball is recognised as one of the most important collectives in the Spanish and Catalan conceptual art scene. The artists, writers, filmmakers and critics who formed part of the group included Francesc Abad, Jordi Benito, Jaume Carbó, Maria Costa, Alicia Fingerhut, Xavier Franquesa, Carles Hac Mor, Imma Julián, Antoni Mercader, Antoni Munné, Muntadas, Josep Parera, Santi Pau, Pere Portabella, Àngels Ribé, Manuel Rovira, Enric Sales, Carles Santos, Dorothée Selz and Francesc Torres.

From a critical perspective, these artists reflected on the limits and the nature of artistic practice, while at the same time defending the social function of art. It should be noted that their political and ideological commitment took shape near the end of Franco’s dictatorship, when the regime stepped up its repressive measures in response to the demands for change and renewal that were coming both from the exterior – May 1968, the Prague Spring and the Carnation Revolution – and from Spain itself, where opposition was mostly organised around the Assemblea de Catalunya.

This exhibition included the seven projects by Grup de Treball that are part of the MACBA Collection, as well as an extensive collection of related documentation dealing with the group and its context.