Barcelona

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MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona)

Plaça dels Àngels 1

MACBA was mocked as a triumph of style over substance when it opened in 1995, and it was noted that visitors spent more time photographing Richard Meier’s Persil-bright building than they did looking at the paltry exhibits. A decade on, the place has fattened up its holdings considerably, but the wow factor of the triple-level transitional atrium and zigzag ramps still overshadows most of the shows, which are frequently heavily political in concept and occasionally radical to the point of inaccessibility. If you can’t or won’t see the socio-political implications of, say, a roomful of beach balls, the MACBA may leave you cold. All too often one is left with the feeling that the only really great work of art here is the building itself.

The holdings cover the last 50 years; although there’s no permanent collection as such, some of these works are usually on display. The earlier pieces are strong on Spanish expressionists such as Saura and Tàpies (of whom director Manuel Borja-Villel is an ardent fan), alongside Dubuffet, and Basque sculptors Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida. Works from the last 40 years are more global, with the likes of Beuys, Basquiat and Penk; the contemporary Spanish collection includes Catalan painting (Ferran García Sevilla, Miquel Barceló) and sculpture (Sergi Aguilar, Susana Solano).

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