Past Exhibitions

 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “A tremendous spectacle” —The Guardian “A carnival of reclamation” —TimeOut A procession is part of life; people gather and move together to celebrate, worship, protest, mourn, escape, or call for change. These… more

“My works are propositions, meant to create alternate pasts and potential futures, questioning history and culture in order to provide a space for reassessing the present.” — Firelei Báez This is the first North American survey dedicated… more

Wu Tsang (born 1982 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a cross-disciplinary artist who makes narrative and documentary film, live performance, and video installations. The immersive installation Of Whales forms part of her filmic trilogy inspired by Herman Melville’s classic 1851… more

As You Are explores the unique and evolving expressions of beauty in the human form through art made by ICA teen artists. While the concept of the ideal human form is often warped by societal expectations, the… more

Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today gathers artworks by 28 artists connected to the region, including standout works by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Teresita Fernández, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Deborah Jack, Ana Mendieta, Suchitra Mattai, Lorraine O’Grady, and… more

Nan Goldin and Jack Pierson were part of the “Boston School”—a group of loosely affiliated artists who met in Boston in the late 1970s and 80s and focused much of their work on the queer underground scene… more

The 2023 James and Audrey Foster Prize presents the work of Cicely Carew (b. in Los Angeles), Venetia Dale (b. in Winfield, IL), and Yu-Wen Wu (b. in Taipei, Taiwan). Encompassing a wide range of media, from… more

Connecticut-based multidisciplinary artist Tammy Nguyen (b. 1984, San Francisco) creates paintings, works on paper, unique artist books, and publications, including through her independent imprint Passenger Pigeon Press. In the densely layered symphonic space of her gilded paintings,… more

From the Ground Up explores relationships between people and their environments, as well as interactions between the natural and the man-made. ICA teen artists express ideas about the ways in which they experience nature, the most unusual places… more

In conjunction with Guadalupe Maravilla: Mariposa Relámpago, the ICA collaborated with organizations and individuals in East Boston who support community healing and well-being. Many are members of the thriving East Boston Community Healing Center Project, a group… more

Guadalupe Maravilla (b. 1976 in San Salvador, El Salvador) grounds his sculpture, painting, performance, and large-scale installation in activism and healing, informed by his personal story of migration, illness, and recovery. At the age of eight, Maravilla… more

Simone Leigh (b. 1967, Chicago) represented the United States at the 2022 Venice Biennale, one of the largest and most important contemporary art exhibitions in the world. Selections from Leigh’s landmark Venice presentation are making their U.S.… more

New on View presents a small selection of works on view at the museum for the first time, including several recently acquired works to the permanent collection. Exploring themes such as domesticity and photography in an expanded… more

New York–based artist María Berrío (born 1982 in Bogotá, Colombia) crafts her large-scale paintings through a unique, meticulous process of collaging torn pieces of Japanese paper with watercolor to create riveting, magical scenes. Spurred by contemporary social… more

Taylor Davis Selects: Invisible Ground of Sympathy is organized by Boston-based artist Taylor Davis, the first time an artist has been invited to curate an exhibition from the ICA’s permanent collection. In her artwork, Davis explores the… more

The Stories that Make Us is an exhibition of artwork by high school students that explores personal stories about migration, belonging, and overcoming adversity. This exhibit embodies how different stories intersect and finds the commonalities we all… more

Xaviera Simmons pursues a research-based practice that spans photography, performance, video, sound, sculpture, and installation, and explores the experiences, memories, and histories of African diasporas. In the series Sundown (2018–present), referencing “sundown towns” where many Black Americans… more

For more than 40 years, Barbara Kruger (b. 1945 in Newark, NJ) has been a consistent, critical observer of contemporary culture. Her distinct visual language uses textual statements and images taken from mass media to create memorable… more

Sweeping survey of 20th- and 21st-century art featuring work by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Francis Alÿs, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jordan Casteel, Paul Klee, Glenn Ligon, Oscar Murillo, Faith Ringgold, and more  Childhood, a subject of universal significance and personal experience,… more

Jordan Nassar’s solo exhibition—his first in Boston—presents a selection of his intricate embroidered and mixed media works. Nassar (b. 1985 in New York) draws on traditional Palestinian craft techniques to investigate ideas of home, land, and memory.… more

The artwork of Rose B. Simpson (b. 1983 in Santa Clara Pueblo, NM) encompasses ceramic sculpture, metal work, performance, installation, writing, and automobile design, offering poignant reflections on the human condition. Her ceramic figurative sculptures, which range… more

In summer 2022, the ICA Watershed presents Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms, an exhibition of large-scale installations by six international artists who reclaim and reuse industrial and everyday materials. Inspired by the Watershed building’s mixed-use history—built in the… more

Collaborating since 2011, Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca create works in video, photography, and installation that explore contemporary histories of underground dance and musical genres. Frequently made in collaboration with cinematographer Pedro Sotero, these moving-image works,… more

A Place for Me celebrates a new generation of artists at the vanguard of contemporary painting. David Antonio Cruz, Louis Fratino, Doron Langberg, Aubrey Levinthal, Gisela McDaniel, Arcmanoro Niles, Celeste Rapone, and Ambera Wellmann are propelling figurative… more

The ICA is committed to sharing artists’ perspectives on the world. These two photographs are in the museum’s permanent collection and were made in Ukraine by photographer Boris Mikhailov, who was featured in a solo exhibition at… more

For more than 50 years, Napoleon Jones-Henderson (b. 1943, Chicago) has created works that strive to highlight, celebrate, and empower the communities where he lives. Jones-Henderson is a longstanding founding member of the influential artist collective African… more

Somerville-based artist, filmmaker, and writer Renée Green is known for her densely layered, multifaceted artworks, which include room-filling multimedia installations, films, sound-based works, and photography. Space Poem #1 is a new acquisition to the ICA’s collection, presented for the first time in the ICA’s Founder’s Gallery.  In… more

“I photograph family, friends, and strangers, and I operate on the belief that my own being is found in union with those I take pictures of.”  —Deana Lawson This exhibition is the first museum survey dedicated to… more

The 2021 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition features Marlon Forrester (b. 1976, Georgetown, Guyana), Eben Haines (b. 1990, Boston), and Dell Marie Hamilton (b. 1971, New York). This group of artists works in a diversity of… more

Raúl de Nieves (b. 1983, Michoacán, Mexico) is a New York–based interdisciplinary artist, performer, and musician whose multifaceted practice ranges from stained-glass-style narrative paintings to animated performances, to densely adorned figurative sculptures encrusted with bangles, beads, bells, sequins,… more

With every call for social change arrives the possibility to make the world anew. The Worlds We Make: Selections from the ICA Collection explores how artists have visualized beyond present reality to imagine, dream, and realize the… more

In conjunction with the exhibition Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech” the ICA will host “Church & State,” a pop-up retail experience featuring a variety of products designed by Abloh. Offerings include a line of exhibition-specific apparel, as well as… more

On display in the ICA Watershed Harbor Room is a project by Boston-based artist Stephen Hamilton highlighting the generations-long tradition of indigo dyeing in West Africa too often ignored in the accounting of early American history. Included is Hamilton’s painting… more

As part of a larger photography project for Virgil Abloh’s “Church & State,” Boston-based artist OJ Slaughter (born 1993 in Richmond, Virginia) collaborated with ICA teens on an editorial fashion shoot inspired by Abloh’s work and his… more

In summer 2021, the ICA Watershed featured a newly commissioned, monumental sculpture by acclaimed artist Firelei Báez. In her largest sculptural installation to date, the artist reimagined the archeological ruins of the Sans-Souci Palace in Haiti as though they… more

Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech” is the first museum exhibition devoted to the work of the genre-bending artist and designer Virgil Abloh (b. 1980, Rockford, IL). Abloh pioneers a practice that cuts across media and connects visual artists, musicians, graphic designers,… more

Eva LeWitt’s vibrant, handmade sculptures are fashioned from everyday commercial and industrial materials. She casts, dyes, and cuts these pliable, soft, and often synthetic materials before composing them in captivating arrangements of hanging geometric forms and gradations of… more

To expand access to i’m yours: Encounters with Art in Our Times during the pandemic, the ICA has created a virtual experience of the exhibition.  Explore i’m yours virtually Events of this year have brought the world… more

The central focus of the wide-ranging, interdisciplinary work of William Kentridge (b. 1955, Johannesburg, South Africa) is the prolonged effects of colonialism in South Africa. Using a diverse range of media, from drawing, performance, and film to… more

NOTE: Due to limited space and distancing protocols, visitors may need to wait in line to gain access. We recommend weekday visits to avoid wait times. The Visitors is included with museum admission. Get tickets The first newly installed… more

ICA/Boston presents the first comprehensive museum survey for American artist Sterling Ruby. The exhibition features more than 70 works that demonstrate the relationship between material transformation in Ruby’s practice and the rapid evolution of culture, institutions, and labor.… more

The interdisciplinary practice of Los Angeles–based artist Carolina Caycedo (b. 1978, London) is grounded in vital questions related to asymmetrical power relations, dispossession, extraction of resources, and environmental justice. Since 2012, Caycedo has conducted an ongoing project, Be Dammed,… more

Tschabalala Self (b. 1990, Harlem, New York) creates large-scale figurative paintings that integrate hand-printed and found textiles, drawing, printmaking, sewing, and collage techniques to tell stories of urban life, the body, and humanity. The artist’s first Boston… more

When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art considers how contemporary artists are responding to the migration, immigration, and displacement of peoples today. We are currently witnessing the highest levels of movement on record—the United Nations estimates… more

Drawn primarily from the ICA’s permanent collection, this exhibition presents artworks that engage with the pioneering ideas of Yayoi Kusama  (b. 1929, Matsumoto, Japan). Beyond Infinity: Contemporary Art after Kusama celebrates Kusama’s prescient artistic vision, which since the 1950s has… more

An icon of contemporary art, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Matsumoto, Japan) has interwoven ideas of pop art, minimalism, and psychedelia throughout her work in paintings, performances, room-size presentations, outdoor sculptural installations, literary works, films, design, and architectural interventions… more

Vivian Suter (b. 1949, Buenos Aires, Argentina) works in close partnership with the natural environment surrounding her home and studio in Panajachel, Guatemala. Her method often involves moving her canvases between the indoors and outdoors and exposing… more

The 2019 installment of the ICA’s biennial James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition highlighting the work of Boston-area artists will feature four individuals: Rashin Fahandej (b. 1978, Shiraz, Iran), Josephine Halvorson (b. 1981, Brewster, MA), Lavaughan Jenkins… more

Less Is a Bore: Maximalist Art & Design brings together works in painting, sculpture, ceramic, dance, furniture design, and more that privilege decoration, pattern, and maximalism. Borrowing its attitude from architect Robert Venturi’s witty retort to Mies… more

Co-commissioned by the ICA and making its U.S. premiere at the ICA Watershed, Purple is an immersive six-channel video installation by the acclaimed artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah (b. 1957, Accra, Ghana). Akomfrah draws from hundreds of… more

Since the early 1990s, Huma Bhabha (born 1962 in Karachi) has developed a distinct visual vocabulary that draws upon a wide variety of influences, including horror movies, science fiction, ancient artifacts, religious reliquary, and modernist sculpture. The largest… more

A sentimental portrayal of friendship, love, and loss and one of the best-loved works in the ICA’s permanent collection, Ragnar Kjartansson’s (b. 1976, Reykjavik, Iceland) masterwork The Visitors (2012) is a monumental nine-channel sound and moving-image installation of a… more

Deeply invested in creating imagery that is legible and accessible, Nina Chanel Abney (b. 1982, Chicago) is known for weaving colorful geometric shapes, cartoons, language, and symbols into chaotic and energetic compositions. At the ICA, she has… more

The ICA presents the first comprehensive American exhibition of performative objects, video installations, and interactive sculptures of the internationally celebrated choreographer William Forsythe.  World renowned, Forsythe is counted among the foremost choreographers of our time. For over… more

Interdisciplinary artist Jason Moran (b. 1975, Houston) grounds his practice in musical composition and bridges the visual and performing arts through stagecraft. Moran draws from his personal experience to create dynamic compositions that challenge conventional forms. His… more

Inaugurating the new ICA Watershed in East Boston is an exhibition of two works by artist Diana Thater (b. 1962, San Francisco) that create immersive experiences through light and moving image projections. The installation centers on Thater’s artwork Delphine,… more

Artist, cinematographer, and filmmaker Arthur Jafa (b. 1960, Tupelo, Mississippi) frequently states that he hopes to create cinema that “replicates the power, beauty, and alienation of black music.” Jafa’s Love is the Message, The Message is Death is a… more

Focusing on the work of black women artists, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 examines the political, social, cultural, and aesthetic priorities of women of color during the emergence of second-wave feminism. It is the first exhibition… more

This exhibition is the first solo museum presentation of the paintings of New York–based artist Caitlin Keogh (b. 1982, Anchorage, Alaska). Keogh’s work explores questions of gender and representation, articulations of personal style, and the construction of… more

One of the most exciting artists to emerge in recent years, New York–based Kevin Beasley (b. 1985, Lynchburg, VA) uniquely combines sound and clothing—his core artistic materials—in stunning, densely packed sculptures and immersive acoustic experiences. This exhibition,… more

The thirteenth installment of the ICA’s annual collection exhibition presents major works that showcase artists’ engagement and entanglement with the everyday. Interest in common materials and quotidian subjects has been a defining theme of artistic practice in… more

Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today examines how the internet has radically changed the field of art, especially in its production, distribution, and reception. The exhibition comprises a broad range of works across a… more

Artist Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972, Nairobi, Kenya) is known for her self-proclaimed “maximalist aesthetic,” hybrid compositions, and wall-based works that add texture and dimension to architectural spaces. Feminism, Afrofuturism, displacement, and marginal spaces figure in her category-defying… more

Hito Steyerl (b. 1966, Munich, Germany) is an artist, filmmaker, and writer whose art speaks urgently to our digitally mediated era. In her work, she has addressed the wide-ranging effects of today’s mass proliferation and dissemination of… more

Based in Boston since the 1970s, Nicholas Nixon has captured the intimate details of family, relationships, and life as it unfolds in front of his camera. Using a large-format 8 x 10–inch camera and black-and-white film, he… more

Mark Dion: Misadventures of a 21st-Century Naturalist, the artist’s first U.S. survey, examines 30 years of his pioneering inquiries into how we collect, interpret, and display nature. Since the early 1990s, Mark Dion (b. 1961, New Bedford,… more

Dana Schutz is a concise exhibition of the artist’s recent work. One of the most prominent painters of her generation, the New York–based Schutz (b. 1976, Livonia, Michigan) is known for her distinctive visual style characterized by… more

Nari Ward: Sun Splashed is the largest survey of the artist’s work to date. Emerging alongside a notable group of black artists in New York City in the 1990s, Nari Ward (b. 1963 in St. Andrew Parish,… more

Though founded in 1936, the ICA formed its permanent collection just ten years ago. After the expansive presentation in First Light: A Decade of Collecting at the ICA, New Acquisitions continues to focus on the incredible growth of… more

The ICA/Boston is pleased to present the U.S. debut of Ashes (2002–2015), a video installation by the artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen (b. London, UK, 1969). A standout from the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, Ashes presents… more

The James and Audrey Foster Prize is key to the ICA’s efforts to nurture and recognize Boston-area artists of exceptional promise. First established in 1999, the James and Audrey Foster Prize (formerly the ICA Artist Prize) expanded… more

Best known for her photographic and video works that intimately capture aspects of our familial and personal histories, Gillian Wearing (b. 1963, Birmingham, UK) continues to explore the nuances of identity, the intersections of public and private,… more

The desire to collect objects and images of personal significance, and to make connections between them, is a nearly universal human experience. For centuries, artists have collected artworks, along with diverse cultural artifacts and natural materials, as… more

Coinciding with the ten-year anniversary of ICA’s move to its iconic waterfront building, this exhibition will celebrate the museum’s first decade of collecting. Drawn entirely from ICA’s collection and featuring multiple thematic, artist-specific, and historical sections, the exhibition… more

This installation features new works made by Boston-area teens in the ICA’s nationally recognized Teen Programs. Throughout the school year, participants in the museum’s rigorous digital photography courses learned to use museum-issued cameras, and established positive relationships… more

Deschenes (b. 1966, Boston), is known for her lushly beautiful and meditative work in photography and sculpture, and since the early 1990s has produced a singular and influential body of work that probes the relationship between the mechanics of… more

Nalini Malani (b. 1946, Karachi) is India’s foremost video and installation artist and a committed activist for women’s rights. Currently living and working in Mumbai, Malani came to India as a refugee during the 1947 partition of… more

Best known for his large-scale sculptures and installations, Ugo Rondinone (born 1964, Brunnen, Switzerland) works in a diverse range of media, including drawing, painting, photography, and video. Rondinone’s series Moonrise—his first figurative sculptures—are eight-foot-high busts derived from masks. Modeled… more

Geoffrey Farmer (b. 1967, Vancouver) is best known for his installations and large-scale, sculptural photo collages. This immersive survey of the artist’s recent major “paper works” presents room-sized installations composed of hundreds of small sculptures made of… more

This exhibition will be the first comprehensive North American museum survey of the internationally recognized artist Walid Raad (b. 1967, Lebanon), whose work in photography, video, sculpture, and performance in the last 25 years investigates the distinctions… more

Ramin Haerizadeh (b. Tehran, 1975), Rokni Haerizadeh (b. Tehran, 1978), and Hesam Rahmanian (b. Knoxville, 1980) live and work communally in a shared house in Dubai. The three Iranian artists—two brothers and their childhood friend—combine their individual… more

Chicago-based artist Diane Simpson’s (b. 1935, Joliet, Illinois) elegantly constructed sculptures evolve from a diverse range of materials, clothing, and architectural sources. While elements of her creations appear to effortlessly hang and fold, they are in fact… more

A small, experimental liberal arts college founded in 1933, Black Mountain College (BMC) has exerted enormous influence on the postwar cultural life of the United States. Influenced by the utopian ideals of the progressive education movement, it… more

Working across media, with a focus on material and the analogue, Brooklyn artist Erin Shirreff (b. 1975, Kelowna, British Columbia) explores the intertwined relationship between sculpture and photography. Covering several years of the emerging artist’s work, Erin… more

Over the past three decades, Lebanese-born Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum (b. 1952, Beirut) has explored the fine line between the familiar and the uncanny in her visceral body of work. Through the juxtaposition of contradictory materials, changes… more

Sculpture today is an expansive medium that includes a range of phenomena, forms, techniques, and materials; the category includes discrete objects, installations, staged video displays, and even performance. This display of collection works brings together pieces by… more

In the nine years since the ICA opened on the waterfront, curators have invited a series of leading contemporary artists to propose and realize monumental, site-specific works on the museum’s sprawling Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall.… more

The first museum survey of sculptor Arlene Shechet, this major exhibition features over 150 objects that trace the development of her innovative practice over the past 20 years. For her entire career, Shechet has embraced an experimental… more

African history meets Western forms of expression in the work of Meleko Mokgosi. Working from photos and clippings from his native Botswana, the New York–based artist creates scenes that investigate Southern Africa’s past and present. While Mokgosi… more

Performance, public art projects, and artist-run galleries are enjoying a resurgence in Boston. To give these movements space, exposure, and support, the ICA is—for the first time—devoting this year’s James and Audrey Foster Prize, a biennial exhibition… more

Sculptor/instrument-maker Ian Schneller and composer/violinist Andrew Bird share a fascination with sound and its interaction with the natural world. Since 2010, the duo has collaboratively produced Sonic Arboretum, an installation of over 30 colorful horn speakers made… more

When the Stars Begin to Fall brings together 35 artists of different generations and working in different mediums who share an interest in the American South as both a real and fabled place. Key to the exhibition… more

The ICA presents Adriana Varejão, one of Brazil’s leading artists, in her first solo museum show in the United States. The exhibition spans the period from 1993 to the present and includes several series of work.  Prevalent throughout the exhibition… more

For each installation in the Jim and Kim Pallotta Gallery, works from the ICA collection are brought into conversation with borrowed pieces to explore particular themes and modes of art making. In October 2014, we updated the… more

Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present is the first exhibition in 40 years to examine the development of abstraction and dimensionality in fiber art from the mid-twentieth century through to the present. Adapting age-old techniques and traditional materials, artists working… more

“A generational masterpiece.”  –Boston Globe A celebration of creativity, community, and friendship, The Visitors (2012) documents a 64-minute durational performance Kjartansson staged with some of his closest friends at the romantically dilapidated Rokeby Farm in upstate New York. Each… more

“Delicate art that conveys a sense that everything is precariousness, everything is fleeting, so embrace this lovely moment.” –WBUR’s The ARTery “Really beautiful, fascinating pieces.” –WGBH   Jim Hodges: Give More Than You Take explores the trajectory of the… more

Eleanor Antin once declared, “I consider the usual aids to self-definition—sex, age, talent, time and space—as tyrannical limitations upon my freedom of choice.” Antin, who was born in New York in 1935, is a pioneer of Conceptual… more

An extraordinary installation encompassing 193 polyurethane sculptures and four video projections, A World of Glass responds to the transparency, fragility, and vulnerability of the world. Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg and Swedish composer Hans Berg continue their exploration of the… more

Remanence/Remonstrance, Ritchie’s contribution to the Fineberg Art Wall in the ICA lobby, will continue his exploration of the possibilities, limitations, and collaborative capabilities of various media. Here, painting escapes its traditional confines both dimensionally—by extending across the… more

The Refusal of Time “reveals a great artist working at the peak of his powers.” —Boston Globe South African artist William Kentridge’s recent installations have skillfully integrated moving image, sound, theater and sculptural elements in order to explore… more

“Pure delight.” —Boston Globe Nick Cave first gained widespread recognition for his “Soundsuits”: full-body outfits crafted from discarded objects found in antique shops and flea markets. Part sculpture, part costume, the complex, kaleidoscopically colorful works of art… more

Christina Ramberg once wrote of watching, when she was a young girl, her mother dress for a party: “She would wear these—I guess that they are called “Merry Widow[s]”—and I can remember being stunned by how it… more

LaToya Ruby Frazier was just a teenager when she began the body of work shown in WITNESS, but even then she showed, as The New York Times has remarked, a “preternatural” maturity.  Frazier’s upbringing in Braddock, Pennsylvania, was imprinted by… more

“Big, confident, and sensuous works. In front of them, you feel joy and exuberance.” —Boston Globe Painting is perhaps more vital today than any time since the heyday of the New York School in the late 1940s… more

The first thing you’ll notice is the eyes. Whether goggled, bug-like, or comic strip–esque, the eyes are obscured. But behind Mary Reid Kelley’s signature prosthetics, the characters see—and say—very much. Composed of live action and stop-motion animation,… more

For several years Boston-based artist Steve Locke has been making images of male heads with their tongues sticking out—a curious expression that suggests disgust or dislike as much as it does teasing or flirting. Lushly painted in a… more

“We congratulate this year’s James and Audrey Foster Prize winner, Katarina Burin, whose fictional archive of a Bauhaus-era female architect explores themes of absence and presence through the physical traces of human history.”  —JILL MEDVEDOW, Ellen Matilda Poss… more

Jeffrey Gibson’s paintings and sculptures deftly combine geometric abstraction and Minimalism with the traditional materials and motifs of his Native American heritage.   Jeffrey Gibson’s paintings and sculptures deftly combine geometric abstract painting with the traditional craft… more

Since the end of the nineteenth century, painting has gone through a repeated cycle of death and rebirth in the face of artistic innovations such as photography, conceptual art, installation, and digital-imaging technologies. At each of these… more

“It’s pure chaos, claiming a territory that doesn’t belong to you to state your own identity. It’s like saying, ‘I’ve got no other way to say I exist.” —BARRY McGEE Barry McGee began exhibiting his art in… more

South Korea–born artist Haegue Yang has transformed the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall with a new, site-specific installation titled Multiple Mourning Room: Mirrored. Made in collaboration with graphic designer Manuel Raeder, the installation covers the Art… more

“The temporality of the videos and performances—often live, elongated, repeated, stalled, and then repeated many times over—confuses distinctions between story, character, and artwork, and plants them in the now, always to be felt in the immediacy of the… more

Combining the genres of portraiture and domestic interior, Mickalene Thomas draws on art history and popular culture to create contemporary images of black female sexuality, beauty, and power. Meticulously composed of layers of bold patterns and bright… more

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has organized This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, an ambitious presentation that represents the diversity and complexity of art produced during the 1980s—from the Pictures generation to… more

Organized by Pedro Alonzo, ICA Adjunct Curator This August the ICA presents the first solo exhibition in the United States of works by the Brazilian brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo. Best known as Os Gemeos, the twins are… more

Organized by Jenelle Porter, ICA Senior Curator Dianna Molzan’s paintings cast in relief the very materials of painting: paint, canvas, and wooden stretcher bars. Her vibrant, easel-sized paintings alter our expectations of what a painting can be.… more

Some Pictures of the Infinite tackles cosmic questions, tracing this persistent theme in the work of Josiah McElheny. Over the past two decades, the problem of infinity has driven McElheny’s efforts to represent the unrepresentable, as the infinite… more

The ICA collection reflects a history of exhibitions by such trailblazing photographers as Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Rineke Dijkstra, Roe Ethridge, Nan Goldin, and Catherine Opie, all of whom are known primarily for portrait-related imagery. Traditionally, portraits document people,… more

Charline von Heyl presents a survey of work by this compelling and important artist. Known for her vibrant, insistent, enigmatic paintings and works on paper, von Heyl demonstrates that painting is still intensely relevant in contemporary art.… more

Organized by Senior Curator Jenelle Porter Color is a daily experience, from the colors we wear, the subway lines we ride, the food we eat, and the flags we fly. We use colors to describe our emotions:… more

“Ten thousand waves takes us to the shore Home will arrive under our feet” —Wang Ping, The Great Summons Isaac Julien’s Ten Thousand Waves is an immersive, nine-screen video installation that interweaves three stories linking China’s ancient past and the… more

Organized by Senior Curator Jenelle PorterJessica Jackson Hutchins (b. 1971, Chicago) transforms life into art, creating sculptures and collages from everyday objects. With the addition of ceramic and papier-mâché, her family’s kitchen table and living room furniture,… more

This fall, we celebrate the spirit of adventure that has always defined the ICA with a season of nonstop art and performance. The centerpiece of our 75th Anniversary season is Dance/Draw, a landmark exhibition exploring the dynamic exchange… more

The 2011-2012 exhibition saw a number of minor rotations throughout the year. These included: the removal of the Paul Chan’s `First Light’ for the 75th Anniversary display of donated drawings, and a timeline of the ICA’s history:… more

There’s a good chance you’ve encountered Swoon’s work before: her intricately cut, life-sized portraits have covered abandoned buildings and warehouses in cities around the world. Often found in beautiful states of decay, her wheat-pasted installations are populated… more

Leslie Hewitt explores the role of photography in recapturing the past.   She is interested in how much we rely on images to provide memories of personal experience, how collective memory of past events is shaped and preserved,… more

“My interest is in finding my own way.” —Eva Hesse, 1970  American artist Eva Hesse (1936–1970) played a central role in the transformation of sculpture that took place in the 1960s. In addition to her large-scale sculptures, over… more

“A timely exhibition…frames questions about the most basic human values.”  One of the defining artists of her generation, Catherine Opie is known for her portraits and landscapes. In this exhibition, Opie’s photographs explore the intimate relations between community… more

Seemingly obsolete in today’s era of MP3s and iTunes, vinyl is experiencing a significant resurgence, and not just among collectors and audio purists—records and record players are increasingly popular as vehicles of expression for artists. The Record:… more

Using familiar materials such as receipts, newspaper, band soaps, and plastic bags, Gabriel Kuri focuses our attention on contemporary consumer culture and the circulation of money, information, and energy in both our global economy and in our… more

“It’s about…tracing the ghost of cities past. It’s the pulling off of a layer and finding another underneath.” — Mark Bradford Through his collaged paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations, Mark Bradford explores issues of class, race, and gender in… more

Nine Boston-area artists have been selected for the ICA’s biennial award and exhibition program From large-scale photographs of the Peruvian Amazon to experimental film to installations inspired by 17th-century frescoes, the artists selected for the 2010 Foster… more

For over 20 years, New York-based artist Charles LeDray has created handmade sculptures in stitched fabric, carved bone, and wheel-thrown clay. LeDray painstakingly fashions smaller-than-life formal suits, embroidered patches, ties, and hats, as well as scaled-down chests… more

DiMattio’s dizzying, perspective-defying paintings weave together disparate objects—from construction cranes to disco balls—in a tangled web. The New York-based painter combines imagery from a wide range of architectural, decorative, and art historical sources. She laces together underlying… more

Discover the playful and provocative works of this artist and accomplished tattooist Jerónimo López Ramírez, also known as Dr. Lakra, is an renowned tattoo artist who lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico. Under his pseudonym, loosely translating… more

Using materials such as pure pigment, gold, and glass and images inspired by nature and literature, Horn’s often gorgeous works  explore notions of identity, perception, and place. The most comprehensive survey of the American artist’s work to… more

Exhibition Guide, Chapter 15 Boston-born artist R.H. Quaytman incorporates optical abstractions, silkscreened photographs, diamond dust layers, and hand-painted trompe l’oeil elements into her works. Using these diverse techniques, she weaves personal, art historical, and formal narratives to… more

…OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. The project is also made possible through the support… more

Damián Ortega is known for taking things apart and putting them back together again Born in 1967 in Mexico City, Ortega is one of the most prominent artists of the new Mexican generation. This exhibition, the first-ever survey… more

Los Angeles–based artist Rodney McMillian creates sculptures, videos, and paintings, often based on found objects or elaborately constructed forms. Formally striking and emotionally charged, their poetic force is often sharpened by an engagement with personal and political… more

Each year, since its debut in 2006, the ICA Collection is reinstalled to present new works and new themes. This fourth exhibition, In the Making, marks the Collection’s ongoing growth with a focus on artists’ process and… more

The photograph has often been described as a transparent window into a frozen moment. For Eileen Quinlan it is not a window but a mirror—reflecting our tendency to see even constructed images as truth when delivered by… more

Five contemporary artists capture the impromptu actions of ordinary people—to surprisingly powerful effect The five contemporary artists in Acting Out invite real people—non-actors—to be taped participating in these varied activities. The exhibition introduces a new generation of artists exploring… more

The first museum survey of one of the most influential street artists of our time From humble beginnings as a defiant, skateboard-obsessed art student pasting homemade stickers, Shepard Fairey has developed into one of the most influential… more

Four early-career artists making an impact in Greater Boston and beyond These artists, while presenting vastly different views of the world around us in a variety of media, all share a confident artistic approach—a sign of breakthroughs… more

Byrne’s work blurs the lines between past and present, fiction and documentary Gerard Byrne’s multimedia practice invites us to consider contemporary culture through the filter of the recent past. His work references a wide range of sources—from… more

Rondinone’s work combines an irreverent pop sensibility with a deeply introspective tone. Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone is creating the third installation of the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall. Rondinone will enliven the ICA lobby with a dynamic new installation, covering… more

In the artist’s hands, common, mass-produced items—toothpicks, buttons, drinking straws—become captivating sculptures. For over a decade, American sculptor Tara Donovan has transformed huge volumes of everyday items into stunning works of phenomenal impact. Layered, piled, or clustered with… more

Using material as metaphor, Hlobo blends innovation with tradition, probing with healing, and irreverence with respect. Nicholas Hlobo creates works on paper, sculptures, and performances that harness the associative potential of materials, such as pink satin ribbon, rubber… more

Portrait of a Museum  Established in 1936, the ICA had a long history of exhibiting, but not collecting, the work of notable artists working to push the boundaries of contemporary art.  Now looking ahead, the museum has… more

The sculptor’s thrilling and seductive work suggests a world beyond our grasp Anish Kapoor: Past, Present, Future assembles 14 works made since 1980, a period in which Kapoor’s sculptures and installations have grown increasingly ambitious and complex. The… more

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles Born in Bangalore, India, where she lives and works, Ranjani Shettar creates delicate sculptural installations that deftly blend references to the natural and the man-made, the landscape and the urbanscape. Her practice is… more

For these artists, city streets act as fluid, living sources of inspiration. Street Level presents recent work by three promising artists whose works draw directly from street culture: Mark Bradford (Los Angeles), William Cordova (Lima, Miami, New York) and Robin… more

In works that are more interdisciplinary, more interactive, and more kinetic than ever before, 16 international artists reinterpret traditional notions of spectacle, performance, and the gallery space. The World as a Stage—the title inspired by one of… more

As Below, So Above The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall will transform for the first time since the museum’s opening with a new work by Los Angeles-based artist Dave Muller.  Entitled As Below, So Above, Muller’s first project… more

“Human beings create things, but emptiness gives them meaning.” This quotation from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzeo is at the core of Kader Attia’s new work for Momentum 9,  the artist’s first solo exhibition in the U.S. The French-Algerian… more

This large-scale exhibition of innovative contemporary American design is part of an ongoing series that presents the best work from the prior three years in product design, architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, and fashion. … more

In Present Tense, the artist considers the possibilities, limits, and consequences of self-transformation. New York-based artist Dave McKenzie works in a variety of media—sculpture, video, painting, and performance. His work takes a playful conceptual approach to a… more

More than the sum of their parts… As the ICA collection continues to grow, potential connections with our exhibitions expand even further. Highlighting the museum’s latest acquisitions, this new installation takes the significance of such growth as… more

Art on the Harbor Islands was a multi-sensory discovery of the Boston Harbor Island’s remarkable resources—water and sky, sand and city, historic sites and new trails, all just a ferry ride from the heart of Boston. This… more

Philip-Lorca diCorcia is among the most influential and innovative photographers of the past thirty years. Bringing together 125 photographs made from the late-1970s to the present, including selections from all of his distinct series, this exhibition is… more

Space and time collide as Kawai blends a futuristic space community, a 1960s hippie commune, and a surrealist fantasia. Misaki Kawai’s whimsical installations are created from papier-mâché, wood, fabric, and other low-tech, “crafty” materials like felt, stickers,… more

Spanning six decades, Bourgeois in Bostonbrings together sculptures, prints, drawings, and a rare, early painting, all lent from area museums and private collections.  In the sixty years since her first solo exhibition, Louise Bourgeois has become one of… more

Superhuman vision, once the stuff of comic books and cartoons, is no longer a fantasy. New technologies have pushed the limits of the visible world, allowing us to see almost anything—from the elemental particles of matter to… more

An elegant and energetic fusion of opposing forces, The Divine Gas invites viewers into Aoshima’s fantastical daydream. Chiho Aoshima, a Tokyo-born, largely self-taught artist, is known for digitally-rendered drawings, animations, sculptures, and large-scale murals. Drawn on a Macintosh G4… more

Established in 1999 as the ICA Artist Prize, The James and Audrey Foster Prize recognizes Boston artists whose work demonstrates adventurousness, conceptual strength, and skillful execution.  Sheila Gallagher, Jane D. Marsching, Kelly Sherman, and Rachel Perry Welty all cite one… more

Tropicalounge tells a complex tale layered with history, fantasy, philosophy, and the experience of everyday life in Brazil. Sergio Vega is the sixth artist to be featured in Momentum, an exhibition devoted to new developments in contemporary art.… more

In 2000, as the ICA embarked on preparations for a new building, the Board of Trustees voted to become a collecting institution. It was a historic moment for the museum, which had concentrated on temporary exhibitions since… more