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This exhibition marked a change in the direction of the Museum. Recent Years had been the title of a section of the previous exhibition of the MACBA holdings, Discovering the Collection, which included works produced between 1987 and 1997 in an essentially Catalan context. Under the direction of Manuel Borja-Villel, a new exhibition was organised to contextualise these and other historic works of Catalan art alongside the work of artists from the Spanish and international scene.

The journey began with the Dau al Set period and works by Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies and Joan Josep Tharrats Then came Informalism in Catalonia, with works by Antoni Tàpies and Modest Cuixart, among others, which were contextualised alongside works by Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, Manolo Millares and Antonio Saura. The pictorial aspect of the seventies was also present, with exponents of the painting-painting movement such as Joan Hernández Pijuan, Albert Ràfols-Casamada and artists from the group Trama.

Conceptual Catalan art and the reflection on the artistic process were invoked by the work of Grup de Treball, which included artists like Muntadas, Francesc Abad, Fina Miralles, Pere Noguera, Ángels Ribé, Benet Rossell and Miralda. 
The overview of these historical moments was rounded off by examples of the new figurations or Neo-Expressionisms in painting in the early eighties, which was led by artists such as Miquel Barceló, A. R. Penk, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ferran Garcia Sevilla.

Meanwhile, a selection of works that charted a path through the artistic creation of the past ten years was presented on the ground floor of the Museum. This section included works by Sergi Aguilar, Frederic Amat, Txomin Badiola, Muntadas, Juan Muñoz, José M. Sicilia, Susana Solano and Carlos Pazos.