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The exhibition Beyond the Object, which draws on works from the MACBA Collection, was designed to show some of the novel artwork produced in Catalonia in the 1960s and the early 1970s.

Starting with Àngel Ferrant, Leandre Cristòfol and Moisès Villèlia, artists who were considered emblematic for their restless spirit and quest for new materials and means of expression, the exhibition presented works by artists who defended the unity of art and life and rebelled against the commercialisation of art. Thus, representatives of Arte Povera in Catalonia, such as Jordi Galí, Àngel Jové, Antoni Llena, and Sílvia Gubern, the members of the group of Catalan artists in Paris (Miralda, Joan Rabascall, Benet Rossell and Jaume Xifra), and some artists described as minimalists, such as Josep Ponsatí, all illustrate the transition towards conceptual art, the expansion of working methods and the wealth of new media that artists were able to use from that time on.

Changes in attitudes, forms and materials occurring at that time preceded and prepared the way for the even more explicit political commitment that many artists would take up in the seventies, which can clearly be seen in the work of the Grup de Treball and other by now decidedly conceptual artists.

Beyond the Object: Works from the MACBA Collection is the title of an exhibition organised and curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona and produced by the Government of Catalonia's Ministry of Culture and the Media, which is being presented at a number of museums and art centres in Catalonia from October this year until December 2009.

This exhibition is designed to show some of the works from the museum's Collection that represent the novel art work produced in Catalonia in the 1960s and the early 1970s. Taking artists renowned for their questioning attitudes and attempts to find new materials and means of expression, like Àngel Ferrant, Leandre Cristòfol and Moisès Villèlia, for example, works of art that defend the unity of art and life and rebel against the commercialisation of art are exhibited. Thus, representatives of Arte Povera in Catalonia like Àngel Jové, Antoni Llena, Jordi Galí and Silvia Gubern, members of the ‘Paris Group' like Miralda, Joan Rabascall, Benet Rossell and Jaume Xifra, and some artists described as minimalist like Josep Ponsatí were all part of the transition towards conceptual art, including the expansion of working methods and the wealth of media that artists were able to use from that time on.

Changes in attitudes, forms and materials occurring at that time preceded and prepared the way for an even more explicit commitment that, at the beginning of the 1970s, artists had in relation to the political situation at the time. This is clearly visible in the Work Group's works and other artists' works, which by that time were decidedly conceptual.

Itinerances

16 OCT. - 16 NOV. 2008 Museu d'Art Jaume Morera, Lleida
30 NOV. 2008 - 18 JAN. 2009 Fundacio Palau, Caldes d'Estrac
30 JAN. - 08 MAR. 2009 Sala Antoni Garcia de l'Antic Escorxador, Tortosa
02 APR. - 24 MAY 2009 Centre Cultural El Casino, Manresa
12 JUNE - 26 JULY 2009 Museu de l'Empordà, Figueres
02 OCT. - 15 NOV. 2009 Can Palauet, Mataró
26 NOV. 2009 - 24 JAN. 2010 Museu de Granollers