Painting from the Seventies in Barcelona Surface and colour

Curated by Elvira Maluquer, Painting from the Seventies in Barcelona. Surface and colour reconstructed a moment in history in which a wealth of diverse artistic expressions flourished in Barcelona, when many kinds of trends and directions coexisted at the same time. It was a period of intense mobility and, at the same time, solid theoretical reflection based on a strong social and ideological commitment.

Framed within this criteria, the exhibition focused on one of the main pictorial trends of this period: one that avoided both figurative movements and objectualism in favour of purely abstract painting as an alternative to the decline of Informalism. As such, the works in the exhibition featured an elaborate reworking of the physical surface and suggested a new approach to colour as an element specific to painting. The canvases shared similarities with the main international trends of the time, without forgoing their own signs of identity.

The participating artists were: Pic Adrian, Erwin Bechtold, Alfons Borrell, José Manuel Broto, Joaquim Chancho, Xavier Grau, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Robert Llimós, Joaquim Llucià, Joan Miró, Albert Ràfols-Casamada, Antoni Tàpies and Patricio Vélez.