barcelona art

Cinthia Marcelle's work will be on display at MACBA museum from July 15 to January 8

Modern, contemporary and street art displays aim to attract young people and newcomers in particular 

Caixa Fòrum presents large-scale interactive exhibit by Japan’s teamLab

Abstract painter Yago Hortal celebrated in retrospective display of more than 40 works

Some 21 works by 15th century painter go on display at MNAC in collaboration with Madrid's Prado gallery

Installations by a dozen artists on display in Barcelona's metro focuses public attention on "infringement of human rights"

The infamous Barcelona penitentiary center houses outsider art exhibit – including works from inmates and mental health center patients

The exhibition is an examination of a possible dystopian Earth through the eyes of a Catalan artist

The Barcelona street art scene has been active for 30 years. Thanks to its diversity Barcelona street art distinguishes itself from other cities around the world. During recent years street art has become more popular, which has resulted in more art on the streets, a commercial focus and more legal walls around town. According to the street artist Debens, it was hard for artists in the 90s to find places to make street art because of strict conditions. But such authority also had a positive impact on the street artists in the beginning since it produced a “rebel spirit that is very important for them to create”, Debens states. 

Barcelona’s International Art Fair, ‘Swab’ aims to make the contemporary art scene more accessible to the general public and this year it had a new focus on African and Caribbean artwork. A record number of 65 galleries from 22 countries around the world took part in the 2015 edition of the event and over 200 emerging artists will present their work. In addition to the overall programme, the 2015 edition of the art fair sees the opening of “Swab Gate” from the Fundació Lluís Coromina, which consists of individual presentations from African and Caribbean artists with a focus on painting.

Barcelona's Contemporary Art Museum (MACBA) is entering a new period, under the leadership of Ferran Barenblit, born in Buenos Aires in 1968. The international competition opened to choose MACBA's new director has resulted in the hiring of Barenblit, who until the present day was Director of Madrid's CA2M Art Centre. Previously, the Argentinean manager had been Director of Barcelona’s Santa Mónica Art Centre (from 2003 to 2008). The MACBA opened a public competition in March, after the previous Director, Bartomeu Marí, resigned in the wake of the great controversy surrounding the last-minute cancellation of a temporary exhibition because one of the sculptures depicted the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos, being sodomised by a dog. The sculpture had been designed by the Austrian artist Ines Doujak. Marí decided to cancel the opening, provoking loud protests from curators and a significant public controversy, with accusations of censorship being aimed at the director.

The country house where one of the world's greatest artists of the 20^th century, Joan Miró, spent his summers in his teenage and adult years will be transformed into a museum. The Mas Miró, the artist's family farmhouse located in Mont-roig del Camp, in the Catalan Province of Tarragona, will be open for visitors by summer 2016. The project – developed by RCR and Varis Arquitectes studios – will consist of two phases. The first – costing a total of €2.5 million – entails the conversion of the farmhouse and the painter's studio into a museum, the renovation of the housekeeper's house and the construction of an entry pavilion. The second – which will cost €3 million – envisages the creation of new areas such as: a restaurant, a new car park, a multipurpose room and a workshop space. Work is due to start in the coming weeks.

The Joan Miró Foundation, located in the Catalan capital, is to hold an exhibition in the 2013-14 season that will focus on the horizon as a concept in modern painting. Works on show will explore the development of the horizon in art from the 19^th century to the present day. Among the temporary exhibitions that take place during next season, the museum will also show a selection of prints and lithographs from Joan Miró himself that will examine the experimentalism of the internationally renowned Catalan artist between the 1930s and 1960s. The museum will also have an exhibit of American artist Roni Horn.