The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

“The place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it.” — James Baldwin

Happy birthday to the incredible James Baldwin, memorialized in this piece by Glenn Ligon. Frequently drawing on texts from Baldwin, born 100 years ago today, Ligon reproduces a page from his own worn and smudged copy of “Stranger in the Village,” commemorating his longtime relationship with the essay.

See it on view in "Wordplay" → https://loom.ly/8lQIpxQ

Glenn Ligon, Untitled, 2016. Installation view, Wordplay, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024–25. Photo by Mel Taing.

What’s exciting, contemporary, and free all day next Thursday? Probably a few things but count us in! Next week, we’re offering free admission to all thanks to the support of the Highland Street Foundation. See our stunning summer exhibitions, take a ride on our Water Shuttle, and drop in for hands-on art making!

Free tickets are now available → https://loom.ly/C2nfkLI

Photo by Lauren Miller

August Adventures: Free Admission Supported by the Highland Street Foundation, the ICA is offering FREE admission for all on Thursday, August 8. Free tickets will be available to reserve starting at 10 AM on Thursday, August 1. On View Don’t miss… more

Drop in and stay a-whale, while you still can! The extraordinary, immersive “Wu Tsang: Of Whales” leaves the ICA this Sunday! Witness an enchanting, speculative journey into the ocean’s depths through the perspective of a s***m whale in this floor-to-ceiling, dynamically-generated video installation that changes each time. Inspired by the classic novel Moby Dick, “Of Whales” is presented mere feet from the Boston’s Harbor, channeling New England’s whaling history.

Run, don't walk → https://loom.ly/rpkwM4c

Wu Tsang, Of Whales, 2022. Installation view, Wu Tsang: Of Whales, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Wu Tsang: Of Whales 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

Happy birthday to Jenny Holzer!

Known for text-based works rooted in conceptual art and feminism, Holzer created “Enclosure (Deep Red)” as part of a larger series using declassified, redacted documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. This red reproduction outlines maltreatment of prisoners of war occurring during the Iraq War, withholding any repercussions or outcomes from the viewer and making visible what is ultimately indiscernible.

Take a closer look in person! “Enclosure (Deep Red)” is currently on view in “Wordplay” → https://loom.ly/8lQIpxQ

Jenny Holzer, Enclosure (Deep Red), 2006. Installation view, Wordplay, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024–25. Photo by Mel Taing.

Wordplay Highlighting the rich interplay between imagery and text and the related practices of looking and reading, Wordplay draws primarily from the ICA’s permanent collection to showcase how contemporary artists have played with words to animate and… more

In classic Leo fashion, we’re a little late to Leo season, but we’re ready to celebrate!

Hew Locke presents a procession of 140 individual figures in the ICA Watershed in East Boston—bringing together carnival queens and dancers, refugees, soldiers, laborers, children, drummers, flag bearers, and people of all ages and abilities. Although they are crafted out of simple, everyday materials, Locke’s figures are adorned with vibrant, detailed costumes and ornamentation, allowing for each sculpture to develop its own individualized personality distinct from the rest.

See them in person and join the procession (but in your own special, Leo way) → https://loom.ly/zbfyzLg

Installation view, Hew Locke: The Procession, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Hew Locke: The Procession A procession is part of life; people gather and move together to celebrate, worship, protest, mourn, escape, or call for change. These expressions are all at the heart of The Procession, an ambitious installation first commissioned by… more

Drop down, yeah ✅
Put the camera flash on 📸

Green screens are commonly used as backdrops in media production but typically invisible to viewers. As part of her larger body of work exploring image-making and visibility, artist Liz Deschenes subverts this expectation, making it both the subject and object in this 15-foot-long monochrome photograph.

Keep bumpin’ that and learn more → https://loom.ly/XJmO1GI

Liz Deschenes, Green Screen #4, 2001/2016. Double-laminated inkjet print on Duratrans, 183 × 71 inches (464.8 × 180.3 cm). Acquired through the generosity of Erica Gervais and Ted Pappendick. Installation view, Blue Screen Process, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, 2001. Courtesy the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York. © Liz Deschenes

This is not a drill! You only have 2 weeks left to see the sensory "Wu Tsang: Of Whales" before it closes on August 4! Bask in this lush, dreamy oceanscape shot from the perspective of a whale plunging through the ocean depths. Dynamically generated and ever evolving, "Of Whales" offers something different with every watch!

See it once more → https://loom.ly/rpkwM4c

Wu Tsang, Of Whales, 2022. Installation view, Wu Tsang: Of Whales, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Wu Tsang: Of Whales 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

Ever catch yourself doodling in your textbook? Sourced from decommissioned architecture, art, and engineering books on the history of Hispaniola—the Caribbean island that holds both the Dominican Republic and Haiti—each of these 225 pages was hand-decorated and installed individually to create a mass of characters and information, forming a shape suggestive of island geographies and bodies of water. Through a blend of a folkloric motifs and academic writing, Firelei Báez offers new ways of reading history and culture, particularly of the Caribbean, African, and Latin American diasporas.

See it up close → https://loom.ly/rOAfQw0

Firelei Báez, Man Without a Country (aka anthropophagist wading in the Artibonite River), 2014–15. Installation view, Firelei Báez, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Firelei Báez “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

🎶 Waterfront sets from Boston’s best DJs
🔎 Deep dives into exhibition themes on both sides of the harbor
👯 Behind-the-scenes look at a performance in the making
😻 Summer Jellycat birthday celebration

There's a ton going on at the ICA this weekend! Check out all the (free!) programs and happenings → https://loom.ly/J8y1ppg

Photo by Lauren Miller

Calendar

The temperature isn’t the only thing that is white hot around here—our fan-favorite First Friday is back! Wear your favorite summer whites for the latest edition of our iconic sunset party on the waterfront. Enjoy seaside dancing, refreshing cocktails, and contemporary art with a view.

Tickets will sell out—get yours "white" now → https://loom.ly/39NFVEE

Photo by Lauren Miller

First Fridays: White Hot Vol. 9 Wear your summer whites for the latest edition of our iconic sunset party on the waterfront. Enjoy seaside dancing, refreshing cocktails, and contemporary art with a view. If your company is a corporate member or sponsor, you… more

Please join us in celebrating two recent promotions within our curatorial department! Jeffrey De Blois, who first joined the ICA in 2015, is our new Mannion Family Curator, taking on an expanded leadership role in the ICA’s curatorial and exhibition programs while continuing to manage the ICA’s publications program, and Tessa Bachi Haas, who joined the curatorial department in 2022 as a fellow, has been promoted to Assistant Curator at the museum, deepening her involvement in the ICA’s exhibition program and educational initiatives.

Since 2015, De Blois has been part of the curatorial team on more than 30 exhibitions and 10 books at the ICA. He curated the first U.S. solo museum exhibitions of artists Caitlin Keogh, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, and Tammy Nguyen and has also organized solo shows with artists Rose B. Simpson, Carolina Caycedo, William Kentridge, and Raúl de Nieves, among others. De Blois is currently at work on upcoming exhibitions dedicated to Charles Atlas and Tau Lewis, both opening later this year.

Haas begins her new role as Assistant Curator, previously holding the roles of Curatorial Assistant, Simone Leigh curatorial fellow, and Graduate Student Lecturer. This past year, she co-curated "Wu Tsang: Of Whales" and supported the presentation of artist Firelei Báez’s first North American museum survey. She is currently working on the US premiere of Christian Marclay’s "Doors" and the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition, both opening in 2025.

Photo by Mel Taing

Looking for ways to spend your weekend? The ICA Watershed is one of The New York Times’s “key stops” for summer in Boston. Explore 140 life-sized sculptures in our seasonal space in East Boston for free! Check out their full itinerary → https://loom.ly/nVLb6Jw

36 Hours in Boston Soak up history, relax in beer gardens that pop open like tulips in summer, and make a pilgrimage to Fenway Park.

And now for your traffic report! Don't let the summer Sumner Tunnel closure stop you from getting to the ICA Watershed! Take the Blue Line to Maverick, ride the ferry, or (our favorite) ride in style from Seaport to the Watershed with the ICA Water Shuttle, free with museum admission!

Plan your visit → https://loom.ly/f5lkx8g

Photo by Lauren Miller

ICA Watershed The ICA Watershed is a seasonal exhibition space located in a formerly condemned copper pipe factory that is transformed every summer with a new exhibition. The 2024 season will feature Hew Locke: The Procession, an ambitious installation first commissioned… more

Now on sale! On November 3, New Orleans electro-revival dynamo Dawn Richard and multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn unite for a concert in support of their second collaborative album, Quiet in a World Full of Noise. Experience a night of soulful jazz, atmospheric soundscapes, and confessional lyricism.

Get tickets →

Harborwalk Sounds: Berklee College of Music at the ICA A summer classic returns! Grab a drink, enjoy the cool ocean breeze, and hear some of Berklee College of Music’s outstanding musicians perform on the waterfront. Harborwalk Sounds is FREE and tickets are not required to attend… more

Live music? Drinks? Waterfront views? Harborwalk Sounds has it all! Starting tonight, we are kicking off our FREE outdoor concert series featuring the incredible talents of Berklee College of Music students. Tune in for the first performance tonight, featuring So Alma!

Check out the full line up → https://loom.ly/tTNR_N4

📸: Meg Elkinton + Lauren Miller

Harborwalk Sounds: Berklee College of Music at the ICA A summer classic returns! Grab a drink, enjoy the cool ocean breeze, and hear some of Berklee College of Music’s outstanding musicians perform on the waterfront. Harborwalk Sounds is FREE and tickets are not required to attend… more

Opening this weekend! Be among the first to explore characters and stories brought to life in Courage to Care, our newest Art Lab installation designed by Boston artist Sabrina Dorsainvil. Create physical vessels in this hands-on project to hold memories, manifestations, and movements of and toward collective care.

Youth and teens 18 and under always visit for free! Plan your visit → https://loom.ly/ZFVvBrE

Photo by Quajay Donnell

Courage to Care Get creative with us in Courage to Care, an installation by Boston artist Sabrina Dorsainvil in the Bank of America Art Lab. Explore characters and stories brought to life through a mural designed just for the ICA!… more

What can you make out in this otherworldly portrait? If the answer is “not a lot,” that’s intentional! Firelei Báez resituates Madeleine, a formerly-unidentified Black woman from a 1800 French neoclassical portrait, shielding her from the viewers’ gaze with a starburst of color. Báez often controls the visibility of her subjects, who are predominantly women of color, as a mode of resistance and protection, granting them "an assurance of a fuller self.”

Step into Firelei Báez's world → https://loom.ly/rOAfQw0

Firelei Báez, Madeleine (Rupture rapture maroonage), 2022. Installation view, Firelei Báez, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Block out your Saturday for our Watershed Block Party in East Boston! Spend the day at our free community celebration featuring live music from Branches Steel Orchestra, mask making and performances from VROCC, DJ sets from Jojo Vybz, and more — along with our monumental exhibition “Hew Locke: The Procession.”

See you at the Watershed → https://loom.ly/5Ze1CQM

Photo by Lauren Miller

Watershed Block Party Join the ICA Watershed Block Party in the East Boston Shipyard and Marina, featuring live music, performances, art activities and more! Admission to the Watershed is free; tickets are not required. Find directions on how to get… more

Your Friday night plans just got a lot more scenic! Next week, kick off a summer full of smooth beats and waterfront vibes with our first Vinyl Night of the season! All through July and August, come out for free Friday evening sets from Boston’s best DJs!

See you there → https://loom.ly/L06N3I4

Photo by Mel Taing

Vinyl Nights This summer kick back with waterfront vinyl DJ sets from some of Boston’s boldest nightlife and cultural cliques. Boston boasts a thriving scene of innovative subcultures, bringing together communities eager to share their craft. This year’s Vinyl… more

Happy Fourth of July! What does this holiday mean to you?

In "Be Attentive," Boston-artist Taylor Davis explores the charged and ever-changing symbolism of the American flag, creating it out of text sampled from Psalms 54 and 55. She evokes a strong emotion with the intensity of the language drawn from sacred songs, calling attention to the complicated associations the flag carries in our current political climate. "Be Attentive" is currently on view in "Wordplay," our currently collections exhibition examining the ways artists use text!

Learn more → https://loom.ly/5Jl0S9o

Taylor Davis, Be Attentive, 2020. Installation view, Wordplay, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024–25. Photo by Mel Taing.

Be Attentive Working in a variety of media, Taylor Davis explores the relationship between object and viewer through precise manipulations of form. Often constructed of wood and industrial materials, her work investigates issues of orientation, space, identity, and perception.… more

Fashion trends have always been about breaking rules, and in the 18th century, Creole women in Spanish New Orleans did just that in response to colonial legislation forcing them to cover their hair. These women fought back with style, using luxurious fabrics, jewels, and feathers. In this pair of ornately framed portraits, Firelei Báez captures this fierce defiance, celebrating resilience, resistance, identity, and beauty through her striking use of red.

Plan your visit → https://loom.ly/rOAfQw0

Installation view, Firelei Báez, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing (.ltaing)

Firelei Báez “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

Can you believe that it’s nearly time to say goodbye to “Wu Tsang: Of Whales”? Revisit this gorgeous, floor-to-ceiling video installation reimagining the journey of a s***m whale plunging into the ocean depths—on view through August 4.

Catch this immersive journey during its last month on view → https://loom.ly/rpkwM4c

Wu Tsang, Of Whales, 2022. Installation view, Wu Tsang: Of Whales, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Wu Tsang: Of Whales 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

Drinks + DJs? Check!
Waterfront views? Check!
Caribbean couture? Check!
You...?

Make First Fridays: Fashion Fête an unforgettable part of your Fourth of July weekend, and come party by the harbor with us. Catch fierce fashions from Boston Caribbean Fashion Week, live music from DIS-N-DAT BAND, contemporary art, and more!

Tickets are going fast for this fan-favorite First Friday → https://loom.ly/m8r12BI

Photo by Ijahni Jacobs

First Fridays: Fashion Fête Dress to impress and strut to First Fridays featuring Boston Caribbean Fashion Week. CooI off with a seaside sip, dancing, and fashion. Plus, explore the ICA galleries on this night to remember. If your company is a corporate… more

We are thrilled to partner with Highland Street Foundation again and offer free admission later this summer on August 8!

Mark your calendars → https://www.icaboston.org/events/august-adventures-free-admission/

Check out the 2024 August Adventures calendar! We are excited to highlight old and new partners across Massachusetts with FREE admission the entire month. 31 days, 31 events, 100% FREE!

Please note some organizations are requiring advanced registration. Visit www.HighlandStreet.org for more information.

Looking as bright as our visitors ✨

Take a closer look → https://loom.ly/rOAfQw0

Firelei Báez, Tone tonal time (or an economy of care) (detail), 2024. Oil, acrylic, and inkjet on canvas, 88 × 110 inches (223.5 x 279.4 cm). Installation view, Firelei Báez, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, New York.

Firelei Báez “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

Happy Pride Month! Explore the works of Nan Goldin and Jack Pierson, two artists from the greater Boston area whose works center the LGBTQ community! Installed outside our theater, these two works point to the artists’ shared interest in performance and its emotional capacities. In “Noa Dressing for the Venus Show at Sh**un Club, Tokyo,” Goldin captures two performers backstage, caught in a tender moment of q***r kinship and care as they prepare for the stage. In contrast, Pierson recreates the sign from television studios instructing audiences to applause, encouraging viewers to question our emotional reactions to signs and signals through a gesture of irony.

Check out these works on view → https://loom.ly/J_9DdXA

Installation view, Nan Goldin and Jack Pierson, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2023–24. Photo by Mel Taing.

Nan Goldin and Jack Pierson 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 q***r underground scene… more

Walk alongside 140 masked sculptures and become a part of something greater at the ICA Watershed! “Hew Locke: The Procession” explores the meaning of collective gathering, action, and celebration through a full cast of figures—from carnival queens and dancers to refugees, soldiers, laborers, children, drummers, flag bearers, and people of all ages and abilities. Their colorful, patchwork costumes and accessories reference movements across different points of history and cultures, creating a complex meditation on what it means to come together.

Join the Procession → https://loom.ly/zbfyzLg

Installation view, Hew Locke: The Procession, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Hew Locke: The Procession A procession is part of life; people gather and move together to celebrate, worship, protest, mourn, escape, or call for change. These expressions are all at the heart of The Procession, an ambitious installation first commissioned by… more

The Gun Violence Memorial Project is coming to Boston. This living memorial houses a collection of remembrance objects—such as baby shoes, graduation tassels, and photographs—offered by families in honor of loved ones whose lives have been taken due to gun violence.

In a citywide collaboration between the ICA, the City of Boston, MASS Design Group, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Purpose Over Pain, and artist Hank Willis Thomas's Songha & Company, the Gun Violence Memorial Project will be on view across Boston starting in August.

If you have lost a family member to gun violence, we invite you to participate in this memorial by contributing a Remembrance Object in memory of your loved one. Learn more about upcoming collection events, June 26–29 → https://loom.ly/_F9g6SE

Events — The Gun Violence Memorial Project Jun 26 to Jun 27 Boston, MA - Object Collection Event @ the Louis D Brown Peace Institute Wed, Jun 26, 2024 5:00 PM 17:00 Thu, Jun 27, 2024 8:00 PM 20:00 Louis D Brown Peace Institute (map) Google Calendar ICS The Gun Violence Memorial will be hosting an Object Collection event where families will h...

What do “Hew Locke: The Procession” and the Boston Celtics have in common? They have lots of players over 6 feet tall and are in a parade today! Congratulations to the Celtics for their historic win!

Revisit the parade throughout the summer at the ICA Watershed and walk alongside 140 sculptures, unified by collective action. Join the Procession → https://loom.ly/zbfyzLg

Installation view, Hew Locke: The Procession, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2024. Photo by Mel Taing.

Hew Locke: The Procession A procession is part of life; people gather and move together to celebrate, worship, protest, mourn, escape, or call for change. These expressions are all at the heart of The Procession, an ambitious installation first commissioned by… more