Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Madrid)

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, formerly known as Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo, is a museum in Madrid, Spain, located in the historic barracks of the Conde Duque, a building designed by the architect Pedro de Ribera at the beginning of the 18th century. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1976.InaugurationThe Museo de Arte Contemporáneo was inaugurated in November 2001 with two basic aims: to create a permanent forum in the context of a center like the Conde Duque, open to an intense cultural and exhibition program, and to complement the other museums and contemporary art collections in Madrid. Similar to other contemporary art museums, both national and foreign, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo has used a historic building to house the contemporary art collection, in this case of the Madrid City Council. The Museum is further part of an ongoing program of renovation to adapt it to use for cultural purposes. It showcases the works of art that the City Council has been acquiring since 1980, the year in which the collection began. The Museum covers two floors over roughly 22,000 square feet. This space exhibits nearly 200 works by over 175 artists from different periods and artistic movements in Spanish art, from the historic vanguards to date, through its collection of painting, sculpture, photography, graphic art and installations. The museum has been closed for renovation since April 2010. The re-opening was planned for October 2011, but the Museum will remain closed through 2012.