MACBA

Aaaah, MACBA, Barcelona’s Contemporary Art Museum. Was excited to see the building, exterior and interior. And did not have any big expectations about the exhibitions on view. But they surprised me. I could be there the whole day, if the Museum didn’t close early because of the strike.

When I was there in mid-October, the protest has been going on for 61 days. Nice to see someone actually doing something about the appalling stuff that is happening in the art sector all around the world. However, you always have to ask yourself if everything is true. And let’s just don’t go there now. Actually, dies anyone know what happened with that?

Anyways, there were 4 exhibitions going on in the building, one better than the other (Beneath the Surface, Brossa Poetry, Martha Rosler: God Bless America!, Forensic Architecture). It was such a shame I had to run through all of them, cuz as I said, I could be there for hours and hours, so good they were.

But in my writings, I will focus only on MACBA Collection: Beneath the Surface. First of all, it was hard for me to determine if this is a permanent exhibition or a temporary one. But does it even matter? I veni, vidi, vici-ed. To see all these amazing artworks, whose topic is reflection on surface, gathered at one place, aaaah, what a joy.

This exhibition was set up in the ground floor and the architecture of the interior definitely surpasses the exterior. It is like a labyrinth, but in a good way. When you enter a room that is around the corner, you think it is going to be a small room, but then this huge hall opens up in front of you. Because of the size they definitely have the advantage of presenting the work minimalisticaly, which means that the artworks have space to breathe. And you have the space to contemplate what you see, before you make way to the next artwork.

What you definitely can’t miss are artists quotes on the walls in between the artworks, which explain their work even more and keep you intrigued. And when I came closer and started reading the captions I was mesmerized. They were so good! Short, but with a proper description of what you see, but not explained in detail, however guiding your thoughts through your own thinking. They also explain the practice of the artist in general, which gives you even more context to ‘understand’ these conceptual works.

All in all, it is a great collection of artworks, keeping you on your toes when you walk through the rooms. At first I felt the light is dimmed too much, but then my eyes got used to it and I saw that this ‘lack of light’ gave an even deeper context to the concept of the artworks and their theme.

And how the works were set up shows they do have the money (professionalism, proper sound system, comfortable sitting, …). I will definitely visit again and I do recommend it to anyone traveling to Barcelona. Do you have more thoughts to share?