A meticulous selection of the most representative artists of the second half of the twentieth century from the MACBA collection.
Founded in 1829, the Frankfurter Kunstverein pursues the mission of promoting production and appreciation of contemporary art. The selection of works from Barcelona's Museum of Contemporary Art - a collection that has quickly become a leading international showcase for artists working today - reflects on the relations between collecting and prospecting.
The show MACBA now presents at the Kunstverein seeks to reflect critically on the different ways in which we can relate to the past and on the importance of maintaining a debate on contemporary art and culture that goes beyond such parameters as the market, taste or fashion.
Curated by: Manel Borja Vilell, MACBA director, and Chus Mart�nez, director of the Kunstverein
Organised by: Institut Ramon Llull, MACBA and Frankfurter Kuntsverein
City: Frankfurt
Venue: Frankfurter Kuntsverein
Dates: 9 October 2007 - 13 January 2008
Opening: 8 October 2007, at 7 pm
www.fkv.de
On the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2007 with the Catalan
Culture as guest of honour, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
(MACBA) and the Frankfurter Kunstverein are proud to
announce a collaboratively curated exhibition of works from the
MACBA collection. The presentation at the Frankfurter
Kunstverein will, among others, include films of Pere Portabella
(*1929), as well as works by Pablo Palazuelo (*1916), Antoni T�pies
(*1923), Antoni Muntadas (*1942), Marcel Broodthaers (*1924),
Henri Michaux (*1899), Jorge Oteiza (*1908) and the collective
Grup de Treball (founded in 1973).
The selection of works and projects represent an attempt to
understand the potential of Modernity even in cultural geographies
where Modernity never fully took place. The presentation of the
MACBA collection at the Frankfurter Kunstverein takes the form of
an open source: It is not the representation of a patrimonial effort,
but a commitment to a particular community shaped around the
desire to understand questions such as historical transmission of
knowledge and values, of agency, and the role that an art
institution can play in research that is directed towards the future.
The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) has a
young yet eventful history. Already in 1959 Circi Pellicer enunciates
the idea of creating a museum of contemporary art in Barcelona.
However due to political turmoil during the 1960s in Spain, the
rea-lization of this project was not possible. In 1985 Joan Rigol
took up the idea of a contemporary art museum again, but only in
1986 - when Pascual Maragall headed the Barcelona City Council -
and with the establishment of the MACBA Foundation in 1987, the
con-struction of the museum could begin.
The American architect Richard Meier was comissioned for constructing
the new museum's edifice, which opened to the public in
1995. The MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) consolidates
a large collection of international postwar art and is directed
by Manuel J. Borja-Villel since 1998.
A reader will accompany the exhibition featuring texts by Manuel
J. Borja-Villel and Chus Mart�nez as well as Charles Esche, Brian
Holmes, Lars Bang Larsen, and Irit Rogoff.