In Real Time

This is the first exhibition at MACBA of the Rafael Tous Collection of Conceptual Art, which represents the artistic practices of a specific period in time. Donated to the museum just one year ago, this extensive body of work will find its place in the collections that make up the MACBA Collection, highlighting associations and affinities within the international context and promoting a necessary rereading of those years.

Tous built a collection that helps define the attitudes and experimental work carried out by a group of artists, many of whom became friends and were supported by him on their artistic development. This collection contains the testimony of a generation that chose to take part in exhibitions held in alternative cultural spaces rather than more conventional art venues.

In Real Time: The Rafael Tous Collection of Conceptual Art offers an important journey through the experimental practices of the ’70s and ’80s in Catalonia, including action art, the interaction with nature, an interest in the media and the new consumerism, social and political critique, the word and the incorporation of the object, to mention but a few.

In this context, the role of Metrònom, a space created and managed in 1980 by Rafael Tous himself, cannot be underestimated. It acted as a catalyst for proposals that fused art, music and performance, as well as commissioning large site-specific installations.

Curated by: Antònia Maria Perelló, curator and head of the Collection MACBA, and Claudia Segura, curator of exhibitions and collection.

Artists: Francesc Abad, Eugènia Balcells, Jordi Benito, Carmen Calvo, Jordi Cerdà, CVA (Comité de Vigilancia Artística), Benet Ferrer, Alicia Fingerhut, Teresa Gancedo, Ferran Garcia Sevilla, Eulàlia Grau, Josep Maria Joan i Rosa, Àngel Jové, Antoni Llena, Eva Lootz, Miralda, Fina Miralles, Muntadas, Pere Noguera, Jordi Pablo, Pilar Palomer, Carlos Pazos, Carles Pujol, Joan Rabascall, Àngels Ribé, Benet Rossell, Francesc Torres and Jaume Xifra.

Acknowledgements
We wish to express our gratitude to Rafael Tous for his generosity, dedication and involvement in the project, as well as to all the artists with whom we have collaborated closely to make this exhibition possible.

We also want to thank the following people and companies for their help and support: Vicenç Altaió; Víctor Aguado; AMEE (Associació de Música Electroacústica i Art Sonor d’Espanya); ENPLATER S.A.; Enric Farrés Duran; Barbara Held; Grupo Lacasa; Mont Marsà; Antoni Mercader; Gloria Moure; Gerardo Peral; Glòria Picazo; Ros Ribas; Valentín Roma; Ivo Sans Fingerhut; Manuel Segade; Nil Tous.