Beca was a group of artists formed in the 1970s in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. The group was formed by Welsh artist Paul Davies and brought a new national consciousness to late 20th century art in Wales.

Although Beca's importance in Welsh art is still widely unrecognised, it was the instigating movement in the politicalization of art in the country. The group took international trends and methodologies in art and applied them to a Welsh context. The group's artists drew on a diverse range of sources including Arte Povera

Arte Povera

Arte Povera is a modern art movement. The term was introduced in Italy during the period of upheaval at the end of the 1960s, when artists were taking a radical stance. Artists began attacking the values of established institutions of government, industry, and culture, and even questioning whether...

, Fluxus

Fluxus

Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...

 and Surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

.

The group continued into the 21st century, led by Davies' brother Peter; and together with the likes of artists Ivor Davies, Iwan Bala, Peter Finnemore and Tim Davies the group found respectability under post-modern reassessments. The group used a mixture of artistic expression, including installation, painting, sculpture and performance, engaging with language, environmental and land rights issues.