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The current showing of the MACBA Collection deals with the consolidation of artistic modernity in our cultural context. It begins with architectural rationalism and the explosion of pictorial Informalism in the 1950s, when matter abstraction took center stage in painting and sculpture. During that time, civil society played an active part in the creation of an incipient spirit of renovation. Art, architecture and design tried different forms of interaction, exemplified by private spaces and initiatives such as ‘La Ricarda' or Club 49, and culminating in the first Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, between 1960 and 1963. At the same time, society also underwent deep changes, brought about by the end of autocracy, the advent of tourism, immigration, the new industrialisation and architectural buildings linked to the world of work and the working classes.

In the 1960s and 1970s, art breaks from inherited conventions and explores new languages and materials. Numerous artists incorporate moving images and media images into their work. Openly critical voices rise from artistic practices against the ruling climate of censorship, lack of freedom and machismo. In the 1980s, painting renews the spirit of abstract classicism.