Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona
Art museum · el Raval ·
Contemporary art museum with diverse exhibits and striking architecture
Contemporary art museum with diverse exhibits and striking architecture
"An obligatory stop for art lovers, this 20,000‑square‑meter museum hosts some of the city’s most interesting exhibitions and even has a bar that’s open non‑stop from 1 pm until late, plus a terrace right on Plaça dels Àngels." - The MICHELIN Guide
"This modern white-cement-and-glass building designed by Richard Meier houses art by Spanish, Catalan, and international artists, particularly from South America and Eastern Europe. Check out abstracts from the 1950s and European pop and avant-garde works from the ’70s, as well as current pieces. Outside, watch local skaters perform gravity-defying tricks, and don't miss the restored Keith Haring street art mural on a nearby wall, dedicated to the fight against AIDS."
"As you weave through the serpentine streets of El Raval you’ll eventually hit Plaça dels Àngels, which isn’t just a hotspot for Barcelona’s skateboarders. It’s also home to the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Macba), the city’s main contemporary-art institution. Its permanent collection comprises about 5,000 works dating from the postwar period to the present day. There’s a vast Spanish and Catalan contribution as well as international art, particularly from eastern Europe and South America. Macba’s diverse and thoughtful exhibitions have covered everything from Catalan poets to forensic architecture."
"The museum’s main entrance and its surrounding steps and concrete barriers have become less a quiet art threshold than an active public stage for skaters and onlookers, who gather nightly for tricks and socializing. The spot is defined by the sounds of wheels on uneven pavement, the hard cracks of landings and the scuffle of failed jumps, and it routinely attracts vendors and crowds more interested in the street scene than the galleries inside." - Chris Ciolli
"MACBA contains over 5,000 works from the mid-20th century onward, including pieces by Spanish artists like Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso as well as Americans such as Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder; I’m not personally a big fan of modern art, but if you are this museum is worth adding to your itinerary." - Matthew Kepnes