Fall 2008 Tara Donovan / Ditson Music Festival / The 2008 James and Audrey Foster Prize / Fall Fun Picks
new
the magazine of the inst it ut e of c ont e mpor a ry a r t /b o sto n
from the director enchantment, by chance
CONTENTS 2 Tara Donovan 0 06 On View 08 Inside the ICA 10 Performance 14 Talks & Tours 16 Courses 17 Film 18 Calendar 20 General Information 21 Families 22 Teens 24 Support 27 Membership 28 Looking Forward 30 The James and Audrey Foster Prize
36 Picks Back Cover: ICA Store
Dear Members and Friends, This fall, audiences will discover one of our most exciting and important exhibitions to date, Tara Donovan. This survey provides the first opportunity for audiences, scholars, and critics to see the range of Donovan’s artistic practice, to study its development and evolution, and to understand her place in contemporary sculpture. You may already know her work Untitled (Pins), from our collection. Now, in addition to straight pins, you’ll encounter Scotch tape, drinking straws, Styrofoam cups and mylar— subjects for Donovan’s exploration of the physical and poetic properties of common, mass-produced items. She continues a trajectory of the formal investigation of material, texture, and scale with wit and an insatiable curiosity. I am particularly proud of this exhibition, so ably organized by Nicholas Baume and Jen Mergel, as I have long admired this artist’s work. Donovan, like Eva Hesse before her, makes the minimalist idiom personal, emotional, and evocative. The work combines a rigorous sculptural vocabulary with approachability, and I am moved by its poetry and embrace of everyday beauty. In May, Robert Rauschenberg, one of the great artistic forces of our time and an influence on my own artistic development, passed away at the age of 82. I was struck by a quote from John Cage, who once said of Rauschenberg, “Beauty is now underfoot wherever we take the trouble to look.” Donovan continues in that pursuit, and all our audiences will now have the fortune to find beauty and imagination underfoot at the ICA. This spirit of discovery—taking the time to look for and create beauty in our lives—inspires much of our work, through exhibition programs such as Momentum and the James and Audrey Foster Prize, and our program of contemporary performing arts. This fall, Boston will be the focus of the new music world as the Ditson Festival (see p. 10) spotlights the innovation of both legendary ensembles and rising stars. Returning to the ICA to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company uncovers the past in a multimedia dance (see p. 11) that seems especially relevant at this pivotal moment in our country’s history. We are also eager to welcome back all the teachers and students in our Teen Programs (see p. 22) and begin another school year of art, learning, and transformation. Inspired by Tara Donovan’s work, our new media students will find the sonic beauty of everyday found materials, while Fast Forward participants create art from the stuff of their own lives. We thank John Hancock, sponsors of our Teen Programs, for being extraordinary partners, civic leaders, and champions of young breakthroughs throughout the city. I hope the season brings you many unexpected pleasures, and that you’ll take the time to enjoy them. All the best,
Jill Medvedow Director
Jill Medvedow photo: Mitch Epstein
“A lot of art-making comes from just paying attention to accidental discoveries.” —Tara Donovan
Cover and above: Tara Donovan, Untitled (Mylar), 2007. Photo: Stephen White. Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
02¡tAra donovan out of many, wonder
Tara Donovan, Untitled (Styrofoam Cups), 2003. Installation view, Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005. Photo: Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York.
“From a distance, Donovan’s works are sensually evocative, while closer inspection rewards our curiosity” —Exhibition co-curator Jen Mergel
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
underground stalagmites, but are actually a multitude of plastic buttons in teetering stacks. Simultaneously engaging the eye, body, and mind, Donovan’s collected works offer us a glimpse of a new openness and balance achieved through sensitivity to subtlety and the power of coherence. Tara Donovan was born in 1969 in New York and received her BFA from Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC, and her MFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland; the UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Most recently, the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured Donovan in their new series focused on contemporary artists. She lives and works in Brooklyn.
tara donovan October 10, 2008 – January 4, 2009 Toothpicks, buttons, plastic cups—such familiar items may surprise us when configured en masse. For over a decade, American sculptor Tara Donovan has transformed huge volumes of these mass-produced items into stunning works of phenomenal impact. Layered, piled, or clustered with an almost viral repetition, these products assume forms that both evoke natural systems and seem to defy the laws of nature. Tara Donovan gathers 17 works from the past decade and will premiere a new installation commissioned by the ICA. The artist’s first major museum survey, the exhibition traces the trajectory of her distinctive sculptural process. Since 1996, Donovan has explored how a single action applied to a single material countless times can transcend our expectations of the physical with allusions to the sublime. “A lot of art-making comes from just paying attention to accidental discoveries,” the artist observes. Her works beckon us to look more closely and discover for ourselves the wonder of a simple physical object when experienced in sum. The exhibition illustrates how Donovan employs a broad array of materials in installations of astounding scale and detail to stretch our perceptual imagination. In the artist’s hands, paper plates cluster as if crystalline growths or coral colonies, and stacked straws billow as if a vaporous cloud. Loose straight pins seem to magnetize into the form of a solid cube, and hollow loops of silver tape on a wall reflect light like liquid bubbles. Donovan forms rhythmic abstract patterns that evoke a wide range of references, from the nano- to macro-, geographic, and even galactic. Nebulous appears as a mist over the floor, suggesting perhaps a blown-up view of microscopic mold or a scaled-down model of the Milky Way. The work’s title hints at the uncertain perceptual experience created by none other than Scotch tape—thousands of “invisible” and “magic” strips woven together. Bluffs fools us with nearly five-foot-high forms that suggest craggy mountain peaks or
The exhibition and catalogue were generously supported by Chuck and Kate Brizius and Barbara Lee. Look Closer
A new video explores Tara Donovan’s creative process and her focus on the interaction between the visitor, the artwork, and the gallery space. Education programs related to the exhibition are made possible by a gift from Bruce and Robert Beal in honor of Barbara Krakow. ICA Store at the Holly McGrath Design Center
The exhibition coincides with the publication of Tara Donovan, a comprehensive monograph including approximately 70 reproductions of all of the artist’s works to date. The book features an essay by exhibition curators Nicholas Baume and Jen Mergel, and an extended interview with the artist by Lawrence Weschler, author of numerous features in the New Yorker whose most recent book, Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences, won the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. member events
Opening Reception Saturday, October 11, 6:30 – 8:30 pm Members’ Viewing Hours Wednesday, October 8, 10 am – 5 pm Thursday, October 9, 10 am – 9 pm Related Programs
Talks p. 14 Family programs p. 21 Teen programs p. 22 Above: Tara Donovan, Bluffs (detail), 2006. Right: Bluffs, 2006. Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
06·ON VIEW new histories
Momentum 11
Nicholas Hlobo July 30 – October 26, 2008 Using material as metaphor, Nicholas Hlobo highlights the overlapping layers and textures of personal and cultural identity. He inventively weaves combinations of satin ribbon, rubber inner tubes, organza, leather, and lace into images, forms and costumes that play on connotations of gender, ethnicity, and colonial history in post-Apartheid South Africa. Draw-
ing from the colorful phrases and idioms of his native language Xhosa, his works are visually loaded with double entendres. With sensitivity and wit, they engage us in conversations about the complex intersections of identity and society. For Momentum 11, Hlobo presents ambitious works that explore ideas of physical and cultural penetration and absorption. Suspended in the gallery, a 18-foot rubber sculpture resembles a stomach connected by a canal to an opening in the gallery wall. This opening suggests an orifice or wound with ribbon-stitched veins inlaid directly in
the plaster. The entire room is lit from above with a soft pink glow, expanding the allusions to the gallery as a bodily interior of generative activity and new creation. The stitching in Hlobo’s installation echoes the ribbon-braided lines in his 15-foot drawings and the costume and props of his performance, Thoba, utsale umnxeba. Translated to mean “to lower oneself and make a call,” the title describes Hlobo sitting in a meditative posture on a fragrant curry bush mat, with a headdress of multiple ribbons and hair extensions fastened like suction cups to the gallery walls. Just as his sculpture connects to the wall, Hlobo performed his own ritual attachment to the gallery, a metaphorical incubator where ideas are received, conceived, recycled and nurtured.
If you missed Hlobo’s live performance for Momentum 11, see it now in the Poss Family Mediatheque in a video created by ICA teens. The Momentum series is sponsored by
Momentum 11 is funded in part through the generous support of the American Center Foundation, the NLT Foundation, the LEF Foundation, and the International Council of the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Nicholas Hlobo, Thoba, utsale umnxeba, performance at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: John Kennard.
ICA Collection: Portrait of a museum July 30, 2008 – July 12, 2009 The ICA’s nascent collection of 21st-century art reflects the museum’s history as it unfolds. The collection provides highlights of key exhibitions presented by the ICA since 2000. Cornelia Parker’s Hanging Fire (Suspected Arson), quickly becoming a collection favorite, was first presented in Parker’s 2000 ICA exhibition, her first museum solo show in the United States. Josiah McElheny’s Czech Modernism Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely joined the collection after mesmerizing visitors in the new ICA’s inaugural exhibition Super Vision in 2006, while Julian Opie’s Suzanne walking in leather skirt recalls the popu-
lar full-sized LED walking portraits installed on the nearby Northern Avenue Bridge from 2005 to 2006. The third presentation of the museum’s collection features recent acquisitions by artists introduced to Boston through the Momentum series, including two mesmerizing photographs by Roe Ethridge, gifts of Niki Friedberg and Bridgitt and Bruce Evans. Kader Attia’s hypnotic new video entitled Oil and Sugar #2, a promised gift of James and Audrey Foster, hypnotically shows motor oil being poured onto a crystalline cube of sugar stacked on a silver platter. As the white solid absorbs the black liquid, it crumbles and pools as a glistening viscous mass, rife with open-ended metaphors for art, religion, and politics. Like Attia’s work for Momentum 9, presenting a dormitory of beds with depressions of bodies now missing, the work harnesses complexly layered meanings through
the marriage of simple and familiar materials. “I am interested in the evocation of something through its contrary,” says the artist, a goal achieved through these powerful works that explore creation through disintegration and presence through absence.
Also on view:
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Dave Muller...Through October 12 Street Level: Mark Bradford, William Cordova, and Robin Rhode...Through October 19
Kader Attia, Oil and Sugar #2, video stills, 2007. Promised gift of James and Audrey Foster.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
8·inside
how they’d do that?
Q: What Weighs More, A Ton of Stainless Steel or a Ton of Toothpicks? Behind the Scenes with Registrar Janet Moore Together with Senior Registrar Nora Donnelly and Chief Preparator Tim Obetz, Moore is part of the team that organizes and mounts the ICA’s exhibitions. Calling themselves the “ultimate behind-the-scenes people,” they solve the complex puzzle of transporting, assembling, and protecting art of all shapes, sizes, and materials. Fresh off the onetwo punch of working on exhibitions by Anish Kapoor and Tara Donovan, Moore took a moment to share some of the more challenging aspects of her job. What were the complexities of installing a show like Anish Kapoor: Past, Present, Future?
This was definitely the most challenging exhibition I've ever worked on. Preparations began well over two years ago, back at the ICA’s building on Boylston Street. Twelve of the fourteen sculptures in the show came from overseas, and each had its own size and/or weight issue. We used a
variety of conventional and unconventional modes of transport to move them—by air, sea, and road. Then we had to make sure they would fit through the door and plot a route through the building! After preparing for two years, was anything harder than you had imagined? The most difficult piece to
ship was Inwendig Volle Figur, which, when in a crate, is an over-sized load. We didn’t know if it would fit into our glass elevator, so a life-size model of the elevator was made in the U.K., and fine art handlers made sure they could place the sculpture inside it. S-Curve, a 32-foot-long, 8-foot-tall, stainless steel sculpture that weighed 8,800 lbs. when crated, was straightforward to ship but proved the hardest to bring up to the gallery. We created an exterior door on the 4th floor, so that the crates could be craned up from the street, 55 feet in the air. Anish Kapoor’s work is large and heavy, and Tara Donovan’s is fragile and ephemeral—what are the unique challenges of working with each? Even though both shows are
sculpture, they are testing in different ways. For Kapoor’s work, the challenge was mostly about moving large objects safely and securely from Point A to Point B.
For Donovan, the work is easier to transport, so the focus is on the installation process. Each of her pieces is made of hundreds of thousands of everyday items, and she will be assembling much of the work on-site. Recording how she installs them and monitoring the condition of the sculptures will be intensive. Both artists’ sculptures can be damaged, even ruined, by being touched. This makes them very vulnerable, and our Visitor Assistants work hard to relay to our visitors how important it is to resist the temptation. What’s the best part about your job? I love my job. I love seeing works
of art arrive in their crates, and I feel very privileged to be unpacking them and taking care of them. I nearly fainted when we opened the first Kapoor sculpture! I also like the variety that contemporary art presents—you never know what an artist is going to use to make art. Find us on Flickr to see more behindthe-scenes photos of our exhibition installations.
Photo: Paul B. Goode
10·performing arts innovation at the speed of sound
The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music September 18 - 21 This September the eyes and ears of the new music world turn to Boston. Led by Gil Rose, the city’s legendary ensembles and rising stars burst into the spotlight for four days of sonic splendor. The festival features cutting-edge works by today’s leading composers, including three world premieres commissioned by the American Composers Forum with support from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund. Each day features a prelude concert and a main stage event. Co-produced with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. The first of a series of biennial festivals of contemporary music initiated by the Alice M. Ditson Fund, which supports music by emerging American composers. Also with support from the Boston Musicians’ Association, Gil Rose, Artistic Director. Tickets: Prelude concert $15 general admission; $10 members, students, and seniors Main Show $35 general admission; $30 members, students, and seniors
Entire evening (available only by phone or at the ICA box office) $40 general admission; $35 members, students, and seniors *World Premieres
8 pm Cantata Singers and Collage New Music David Hoose, conductor Performing works by Donald Sur, Yehudi Wyner, David Rakowski, Irving Fine, Dalit Warshaw*
Thursday, September 18
6:30 pm Firebird Ensemble Performing works by Curtis Hughes, Donald Martino, Mario Davidovsky, Lee Hyla 8 pm Boston Musica Viva Richard Pittman, conductor Performing works by Gunther Schuller, Ronald Perera, Richard & Deborah Cornell, Julie Rohwein*, Chou Wen-Chung Friday, September 19
6:30 pm Dinosaur Annex Performing works by Scott Wheeler, Barbara White*, Richard Beaudoin*, Brian Robison*, Ezra Sims
saturday, September 20
6:30 pm Callithumpian Consort 8 pm The George Russell Living Time Orchestra Featuring the music of George Russell Sunday, September 21
1:30 pm Matt Haimovitz, cello Geoff Burleson, piano Performing works by Augusta Read*, Tod Machover, Thomas David Sanford 3 pm Boston Modern Orchestra Project Matt Haimovitz, cello Gil Rose, conductor Performing works by Paul Moravec, Andrew Vores*, and John Harbison
celtic tap
An Evening with James Devine Boston Debut Friday, October 17, 7:30 pm Saturday, October 18, 8 pm Sunday, October 19, 3 pm “Mr. Devine’s dazzling mix of step dance, hip-hop and classic tap look halfway between Fred Astaire elegance and Savion Glover hunkered-down brilliance. Most important, his art is a delight.” —The New York Times A thrilling mix of tap, step dance and urban rhythms, Celtic Tap features Irish tap dancer James Devine, the Guinness World Records “Fastest Dancer in the World,” who clocks in at an astounding 38 taps per second. Devine’s amazing footwork is accompanied by live musicians on fiddle and percussion, creating one rhythmic spectacle after another. FREE pre-concert talk 1 hour before each performance: Dance critic Debra Cash explores the global fusion behind James Devine’s virtuoso rhythm tap technique in a free 20-minute talk.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Another Evening: Serenade/ The Proposition
Friday, October 24, 8 pm Saturday, October 25, 8 pm Sunday, October 26, 3 pm The company, known for pushing the boundaries of dance, returns to the ICA this fall to launch its 25th anniversary celebration. Another Evening: Serenade/The Proposition draws on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, using his documented words, his contemporaries’ writings and speeches, and other texts to set up the push and pull of historical perspective. Our connection to history—or lack thereof—is evoked through video by Janet Wong, an original score blending classical and folk music in a contemporary pastiche by electric cellist Chris Lancaster,
Juilliard’s Jerome Begin on piano, and text sung by soprano Lisa Komara. Serenade/The Proposition transports the viewer through time with its iconic set design by Bjorn Amelan, Jones’s cast of fierce dancers, actor Andrea Smith, and, completing the longtime collaborative team, lighting design by Robert Wierzel, costumes by Liz Prince, and sound design by Sam Crawford. Tickets: $50 reserved seating; $40 members, students, and seniors “The movement runs cool against the subject matter’s heat.” —The New York Times
Tickets: $35 reserved seating; $31.50 members Presented by World Music, Inc.
Opposte: Gil Rose photo: Liz Linder Right: Photo: Paul B. Goode
NEW: NEW: THETHE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE OF THE OF THE INSTITUTE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON ART/BOSTON · SUMMER · fall 2008
CRASHarts Presents
PHILADANCO Boston Debut Friday, November 14, 7:30 pm Post-performance Q & A Saturday, November 15, 8 pm Sunday, November 16, 3 pm “Philadanco’s dancers are a miracle of skill and energy. They work in a range of idioms most companies don’t even try to possess…A company that can do more than just anything… It can represent the possibilities of human spirit through dance.” —Dance Magazine Philadanco performs joyous and adventurous works with universal appeal that blends African-Americanbased dance with ballet, jazz and modern dance. The company will present the Boston premiere of works choreographed by Rennie Harris, Christopher L. Huggins, Milton Myers and Gene Hill Sagan. FREE pre-concert talk 1 hour before each performance: Dance critic Debra Cash traces the political and aesthetic journey of Joan Myers Brown’s Philadanco in a free 20-minute talk. Tickets: $35 reserved seating; $31.50 members Presented by CRASHarts, a division of World Music. The presentation of Philadanco was made possible by the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the National Dance Project, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Art. Major support for the National Dance Project is also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional funding provided by the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
EXPERIMENT Featuring reConstitution with Sosolimited
Friday, September 26, 8 pm – midnight Experiment—that irresistible mix of art, drinks, beats and eats—is back, and we have just the cure for the season’s intense electioneering. Performance and visual arts collective Sosolimited presents a live remix of the first presidential debate, morphing words and images into a nonpartisan spectacle of light and sound. Analyze the candidates’ emotion, track their body language, and count the blinks of their eyes—all in real time. Top it off with Experiment’s winning combination of art, DJs, food, and drink. Our electoral process never seemed so much fun. Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 members, students, and seniors. Must be 21 years of age. Save the date for the next Experiment: February 6 Artist Shepard Fairey DJs to celebrate the opening of his solo ICA exhibition!
New Music Now Organized in collaboration with composers Ned Rothenberg and Marty Ehrlich, this series presents some of the world’s best and most adventurous musicians and composers. Each evening will offer two unique sets with a short intermission. Tickets: $25 reserved seating; $20 members, students, and seniors Sam Rivers Trio and Sam Rivers with the NEC Jazz Orchestra
Friday, September 12, 7:30 pm The legendary multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers returns to Boston to perform with his trio and realize his orchestral compositions with a stellar big band of New England Conservatory alumni and students. 83 years young, Sam was an integral part of Boston’s creative music scene in the 1960s, along with Jaki Byard and Tony Williams, before moving to New York and working with giants like Miles and Mingus. Rivers’s trio features the leader on tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, and piano. His partners include multiinstumentalists Doug Matthews (bass, bass clarinet and drums) and Anthony Cole (drums, bass, and piano).
Evan Parker and Marilyn Crispell
Friday, October 10, 7:30 pm “Evan Parker may be the most formidable saxophonist since John Coltrane” — All About Jazz “Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano. She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz.” —The New York Times Evan Parker and Marilyn Crispell will each present a solo set and then close the evening in a world-premiere pairing. Parker, a towering figure in the British creative music pantheon, has created phenomenal solo saxophone music, creating complex polyphony from what is normally a “single-line” instrument. Crispell studied classical piano and composition at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has performed and recorded extensively with wellknown players on the American and international jazz scene and performed and recorded music by contemporary composers Robert Cogan, Pozzi Escot, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Manfred Niehaus, and Anthony Davis.
Fred Frith’s Cosa Brava, featuring Carla Kihlstedt, Zeena Parkins, and Matthias Bossi with sound design by The Norman
Marc Ribot opens Friday, December 12, 7:30 pm Guitarist/Composer Fred Frith brings his new assemblage Cosa Brava to Boston for the first time. With longtime collaborator Zeena Parkins (Skeleton Crew, Björk) and new partners including violinist/vocalist Carla Kihlstedt (Tin Hat, Two Foot Yard), the loquacious Frith carries on with his creative ventures that began with the famous art rock band Henry Cow and show no signs of letting up. The evening opens with a solo set from Marc Ribot, known for his collaborations with Tom Waits, John Zorn, Elvis Costello and his bands, Los Cubanos Postizos, Ceramic Dog, and Shrek. Of his solo album Saints, including takes on Happiness is a Warm Gun and St. James Infirmary, The Chicago Tribune said, “Ribot has found a unique way to wrench these compositions out from the grip of history and make them his own.”
Sam Rivers photo: RIKU; Marilyn Crispell; Fred Firth photo: © Heike Liss 2005
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
14¡TALKS & TOURS when artists talk, We listen
ICA/AIGA Design Series Design and Play Thursday, December 11, 6:30 pm Designer, writer, and curator Ellen Lupton leads a panel examining the prevalence of playful, brightly-colored, and unique design across several disciplines. Constantin Boym of Boym Partners design studio, Chris Foster, Director of Design at Harmonix, developer of the wildly popular Guitar Hero, and Jim Crawford, cofounder of art toy company Strangeco, address how their work has developed in recent years and why people want to play. Boym Partners (in collaboration with Meredith Beau), Souvenirs for the End of the Century (Bill Clinton’s Stirring Spoons: Stock Market, Sex Scandal, Healthcare Bill), 1997
Tickets: $12 general admission; $8 ICA and AIGA members, students, and seniors
Tara Donovan in Conversation with Lawrence Weschler Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 pm As Tara Donovan opens her first major museum survey, the Brooklyn-based sculptor discusses her work with Lawrence Weschler, a writer known for making surprising connections between seemingly disparate ideas and images. A New Yorker staff writer for more than 20 years, Weschler is the author of a dozen books of creative nonfiction, including the 2006 collection of essays Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Since 2001, Weschler has been the director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University, and in 2006 he accepted the position of artistic director of the Chicago Humanities Festival. He is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award and a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award. Tickets: $12 general admission; $8 members, students, and seniors Tara Donovan, Untitled (Mylar Tape) (detail), 2007
Artist Talk
James and Audrey Foster Prize Finalists Sunday, December 7, 1 pm The Foster Prize finalists have been announced. They’ve answered our questions (see p. 30), and now they’ll answer yours. Come hear Catherine D’Ignazio, Rania Matar, Andrew Witkin, and Joe Zane talk about their artistic process, and see what makes their work so relevant today. Free with museum admission. Tickets available first-come, first-served one hour before the program. Words from the walk
A New Poem Premieres October 1 Words from the Walk, the ICA’s partnership with UMASS Boston, presents creative writing that inspires, challenges or engages with the idea of “a present moment.” The poem Lantau (2007) by Marilyn Chin will be installed on the Hassenfeld Harborway October 1. Chin will speak at the ICA as part of the Words from the Walk reading series in early 2009. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon, Marilyn Chin is the author of Dwarf Bamboo, The Phoenix Gone, The Terrace Empty, and Rhapsody in Plain Yellow Chin was featured in Bill Moyers’s PBS series The Language of Life.
Lunchtime Gallery Talks Take a break to nourish your body and your mind. ICA curators share their perspectives on working with today’s artists in a program tailormade for your lunch hour. Our speakers will provide food for thought; the Water Café will take care of the rest. Space is limited. Free tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis at the admissions desk one hour before the program. Ticket holders are eligible for a 10% discount at the Water Café. May not be combined with any other offer. Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Momentum 11: Nicholas Hlobo Thursday, September 11, 12 pm
Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator Momentum 12: Gerard Byrne Thursday, November 13, 12 pm
Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Street Level: Mark Bradford, William Cordova and Robin Rhode Thursday, September 25, 12 pm
Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Tara Donovan Thursday, December 11, 12 pm
Jen Mergel/Nicholas Baume Tara Donovan Thursday, October 16, 12 pm Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Ugo Rondinone Thursday, October 30, 12 pm
Carole Anne Meehan, Curator ICA Collection Thursday, December 18, 12 pm Schedule of speakers is subject to change. Please check our web site for the most up-to-date information. ICA interpretive programs and materials are made possible by significant support from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund.
Free Public Tours
Each week, the ICA offers six docent-led tours free with museum admission. Tours leave from the lobby. Target Free Thursday Night 6 pm Tara Donovan 7 pm Introduction to the ICA Saturdays and Sundays 1 pm Tara Donovan 2:30 pm Introduction to the ICA
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
16·courses
TO THE GALLERIES AND BEYOND
LOOK HERE Introduction to Contemporary Sculpture Tuesdays, October 21 and 28, November 4, 11, and 18 , 11 am – 12:30 pm Satisfy some of your curiosity about contemporary sculpture through this five-week program. Starting with the Tara Donovan exhibition, the course introduces a series of topics, examined through images of artists’ work, conversations with artists and curators, readings, and program discussion. Led by Randi Hopkins, this program will offer diverse perspectives on what it means to make and appreciate sculpture today. Hopkins brings 25 years of experience working with contemporary visual art and writing, as co-founder and director of the Allston Skirt Gallery in Boston and a regular contributor to The Boston Phoenix’s “Museum and Gallery” column. Fee: $120 general admission; $100 members, students and seniors. Ticket holders are eligible to 10% discount on items in the Water Café and ICA bookstore. May not be combined with any other offer.
Thomas Hirschhorn, Wood-Chain VIII (Pisa Tower), 2004. Fractional and promised gift of Beth and Anthony Terrana.
17·FILM
GROUNDBREAKING FILMS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM
The International Experimental Cinema Exposition
Saturday, October 11, 6 pm Q & A with the filmmakers and TIE Founder/Director Christopher May
Fall Film Event Get a Rare Glimpse Inside Warhol’s Factory with a Film Premiere and Live Music Event A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (78 minutes, BetaSP,
2007) Boston Premiere! Saturday, September 27, 2 and 5 pm Sunday, September 28, 4 pm – Introduction and Q & A with director Esther Robinson In her award-winning documentary, Esther Robinson presents a portrait of her uncle Danny Williams—a promising young filmmaker and Andy Warhol’s onetime lover and collaborator—who disappeared in 1966. Using over 20 of Williams’s never-before-seen films, Robinson explores the Factory era in an homage to her uncle’s talent and a search to uncover the truth about his mysterious disappearance at age 27. A Walk Into the Sea is the winner of the Teddy Award, Best Documentary Film, at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, and the New York Loves Film Award at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Tickets: $9 general admission; $7 members, students, and seniors
Live Music + Film: Danny Williams’s Factory Films (16 mm transferred to video, 70 minutes)
Sunday, September 28, 7:30 pm See three of Danny Williams’s mesmerizing never-before-seen short films featuring The Velvet Underground and other legendary Factory figures. In an exceptional music and movie event, Harold Stevenson Part 1 and Part 2 will be screened with live music accompaniment by composer T. Griffin and Catherine McRae, of the acclaimed band the Quavers. The program will also include silent screenings of The Factory Film and The Velvet Underground Eat Lunch. Tickets: $10 general admission; $8 members, students, and seniors Documentary screening & Music + Film event : $18 general admission; $13 members, students and seniors (available only by phone or at the ICA box office).
The International Experimental Cinema Exposition (TIE) is dedicated to celluloid works in their true format, from the latest contemporary works to archival films from the rich history of experimental cinema. TIE seeks films that challenge popular and conventional modes of the moving image, from difficult and hand-made films to extraordinarily radical and obscure compositions. The first half of this two-part screening features an eclectic range of experimental films that illuminate the continuing vitality and beauty of celluloid. Part 2 includes a large selection of new work by the best Boston avant-garde filmmakers, including Rebecca Meyers, Luther Price, Jonathan Shwartz, and Robert Todd. Tickets: $10 general admission; $8 members, students, and seniors
Boston Jewish Film Festival at the ICA
November 6 – 9 Through features, shorts, and documentaries, the festival explores Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience, and the richness of Jewish culture in the relation to a diverse modern world. For upcoming screening information, log onto www.icaboston.org. Tickets: $10 general admission; $9 members, students and seniors
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
18·calendar shorter days, but long on culture SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
Thursday 9/11
Thursday 9/25
Wednesday 10/8
Saturday 10/25
Lunchtime Talk
Lunchtime Talk
Members’ Viewing Hours
Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Momentum 11: Nicholas Hlobo
Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Street Level
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
10 am – 5 pm
12 pm
12 pm
Friday 9/12 New Music Now Sam Rivers Trio and Sam Rivers with the NEC Jazz Orchestra
7:30 pm
Tara Donovan
10 am – 9 pm
Featuring reConstitution with Sosolimited
Boston Musica Viva
8 pm
Friday 9/19 The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom Dinosaur Annex
6:30 pm The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom Cantata Singers and Collage
8 pm
Saturday 9/20 The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom Callithumpian Consort
6:30 pm The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom The George Russell Living Time Orchestra
8 pm
Sunday 9/21 The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom Matt Haimovitz, cello, Geoff Burleson, piano
Friday 10/10
8 pm – midnight
New Music Now
Saturday 9/27
Evan Parker and Marilyn Crispell
Sunday 10/26 The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Another Evening: Serenade/The Proposition
10 am – 4 pm
Saturday 10/11
Thursday 10/30
Film
The International Experimental Cinema Exposition
from the street
A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory
2 pm and 5 pm
6 pm Members’ Opening Reception Tara Donovan
Sunday 9/28 Film A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Tuesday 10/14 Talk
4 pm
Tara Donovan and Lawrence Weschler
Special Event
7:30 pm
Live Music + Film: Danny Williams’s Factory Films
Thursday 10/16
7:30 pm
Lunchtime Talk Jen Mergel, Associate Curator Tara Donovan
Lunchtime Talk Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Ugo Rondinone
12 pm
NOVEMBER Thursday 11/6 Film Boston Jewish Film Festival at the ICA
Continues through 11/9
Thursday 11/13
12 pm
Lunchtime Talk
Tuesday 10/21
Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator Momentum 12: Gerard Byrne
Course Introduction to Contemporary Sculpture
12 pm
Continues 10/28, 11/4, 11/11 and 11/18
Saturday 11/29
11 am – 12:30 pm
Play Date
Friday 10/24 The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Another Evening: Serenade/The Proposition
8 pm
The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom
Saturday 10/25
3 pm
8 pm
3 pm
1:30 pm
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Another Evening: Serenade/The Proposition
7:30 pm
The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom
The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music: Sonic Boom
Members’ Viewing Hours
Experiment
Play Date
Firebird Ensemble
Thursday 10/9
Friday 9/26
Thursday 9/18
6:30 pm
Tara Donovan
Play Date beyond The Artist’s Hand
10 am – 4 pm
Family Films
10 am – 4 pm
DECEMBER Friday 12/5 The ICA will close at 5 pm
Sunday 12/7 Talk James and Audrey Foster Prize Finalists
1 pm
Thursday 12/11 Lunchtime Talk Jen Mergel/ Nicholas Baume Tara Donovan
12 pm ICA/AIGA Design Series
how to buy tickets To purchase tickets, log onto www.icaboston.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the ICA box office during regular museum hours or 45 minutes before the program, or by phone at 617-478-3103 (during regular museum hours). A $3 processing fee per ticket will be added to phone and online orders for non-members. Wheelchair seating and assistive listening devices are available; please call the box office in advance to make a request. If you need further assistance, including sign language interpretation, please contact the ICA box office at least two weeks in advance of program.
Design and Play
6:30 pm
Friday 12/12 New Music Now Fred Frith’s Cosa Brava Marc Ribot opens
7:30 pm
Thursday 12/18 Lunchtime Talk Carole Anne Meehan, Curator ICA Collection
12 pm
Friday 12/19 The ICA will close at 5 pm
Friday 12/26 The ICA will close at 5 pm
Saturday 12/27 Play Date Invent Your Own Play Date
10 am – 4 pm
Free Public Tours
See p. 15 Teen Programs
See p. 22 Member Events
See p. 27 The ICA is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events.
20·general information
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Tuesday and Wednesday 10 am – 5 pm Thursday and Friday 10 am – 9 pm Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 5 pm Closed Monday, except on the following national holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day. Open Independence Day.
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Museum, Store, & Cafe Hours
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THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/ BOSTON
100 Northern Avenue
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the nuts and bolts
World Trade Center
Directions
The ICA is located at 100 Northern Avenue in Boston. It is walking distance from downtown and easily accessible by public transportation. The ICA does not have a parking garage, however there is affordable paid parking available in lots near the ICA. Via public transportation: Take the Red Line to South Station and transfer to the Silver Line Waterfront. The ICA is short walk from either Courthouse or World Trade Center station. From Courthouse Station: Exit the station onto Seaport Boulevard and follow it, walking away from downtown. Just before the first traffic light, there will be a pedestrian opening in the fence on your left—walk through it to the walkway that runs alongside the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Voyage. This will lead you to Northern Avenue. The ICA is across the street to the right at 100 Northern Avenue. From World Trade Center Station: Exit left onto Congress Street. Walk one block to the corner of B Street and turn right, crossing Congress Street. Follow B Street for one block. At the corner of B Street and Seaport Boulevard cross the street and turn left. At the next corner, turn right onto Northern Avenue. The ICA is on the right. You will pass the entrance to Anthony’s Pier 4 and two parking lots before coming to the driveway leading to the ICA entrance. By car: The ICA is easily accessible from both I-90 and I-93. Please visit www.icaboston.org for detailed driving directions.
Admission
$12 general admission $10 students and seniors Free members and children 17 and under Free after 5 pm every Thursday for Target Free Thursday Nights Free families (up to 2 adults per family accompanied by a child 12 or under) on the last Saturday of each month Target Free Thursday Nights are sponsored by Water Café by Wolfgang Puck
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. ICA Members receive a 10% discount Accessibility
The ICA is fully wheelchair and stroller accessible. contact
General Information 617-478-3100 Membership 617-478-3102 Box Office 617-478-3103 ICA Store 617-478-3104 Web www.icaboston.org E-mail info@icaboston.org Media Partners
21·families
What’s fun, free and creative all over?
Play Dates Join us on the last Saturday of every month, when the ICA comes alive with activities especially for families—films, performances, art-making, gallery tours, and more! All activities are designed for children ages 5 – 12 and adults to do together, and no prior registration is necessary. Space is limited, and free tickets may be required for selected theater events; these will be available first-come, first-served in the lobby on the day of the event only. For more information, e-mail families@icaboston.org or call Kathleen Lomatoski at 617-478-3134. From the Street
Saturday, September 27, 10 am – 4 pm How do artists work with throw-away items like old shoes, speakers, or posters to comment about life in the city? Visit our galleries to see how urban culture influences contemporary art in Street Level, then step into the Bank of America Art Lab to create unique 3-D maps of your neighborhood. Don’t miss Boston DJ Nomadik spinning for families from 12 – 3 pm.
The Artist’s Hand
Invent Your Own Play Date*
Saturday, October 25, 10 am – 4 pm Looking for an awe-inspiring adventure? Discover how artist Tara Donovan uses everyday materials to create sculptures that imitate natural forms even as they seem to defy the laws of nature. Afterwards, head to the Bank of America Art Lab to experiment with common materials. Make a sculptural installation come to life with Boston artist Evelyn Rydz, and make your own prints. Catch performances in the galleries by Underground Railway Theater; log onto www.icaboston.org for details.
Saturday, December 27, 10 am – 4 pm *While there is no formal program for December, we encourage you to bring the family to the ICA and strike up your own conversations about works on view. In the lobby, you can pick up one of our Family Guides to explore the ICA, including our “You be the Curator” activity, where kids can invent their own exhibitions by drawing on a gallery floor plan. Drawing activities for all ages will also be offered throughout the day in the Bank of America Art Lab. Activities in the Bank of America Art Lab are made possible by
This Play Date is sponsored by Nancy W. Adams Family Films
Saturday, November 29, 10 am – 4 pm Open your eyes to the many ways contemporary artists’ work speaks about our experiences in the world today. Pick from a variety of activities to do together in the galleries. A 50-minute family film program, including Max’s Words and others, some made by hand, will be repeated throughout the day in the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater.
Generous support of ICA Youth Education is provided by JP Morgan Chase Foundation, the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, and the Fuller Foundation.
Photo: Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
22·teens
as much fun as it sounds
Teen New Media Classes Soundscape Collage – Sampling the Everyday in Tara Donovan’s Work
Tuesdays, October 14 – December 16 4 – 6 pm Curious about how to create and mix your own sound recording? Students begin by examining the work of Tara Donovan on view in the galleries, then create soundscapes using field recordings of everyday found materials, including those used in Donovan’s work. Students will learn how to sample and remix beats into a final audio project in GarageBand, Reason, and other sound software. Final projects will be exported to MP3 and can be uploaded to an iPod to listen to while in the galleries. Featuring Guest Artist Ghostdad / Ryan Sciaino Fee: $250/$200 members, and free for Boston Public School students. Required lab fee for all digital media studio classes: $10. Open to high school students ages 14 – 18; no prior experience necessary.
Raster/Render – 3D Design, Inspired by Tara Donovan
Fast Forward Teen Video Program
Wednesdays, October 22 December 17, 4 – 6 pm Discover the work of Tara Donovan, then design your own digital sculptures! Over eight weeks, students will visit the exhibition and create their own sculptures in a virtual rendering of the ICA, using the 3D design program SketchUp. Final projects will be exported to Quicktime, and the digital museum model will be mashed up in Google Earth.
Two sessions, Thursdays and Fridays beginning October 4, 4 – 6:30 pm Fast Forward is an accelerated, multiyear new media program offered free of charge to qualified high school students. Participants meet weekly, developing a portfolio of work for critique, presentation and distribution. Instructor: Joe Douillette, Fast Forward Program Director. Email Joe at jdouillette@icaboston.org for more information and an application. Open to high school students ages 14 – 18. Required lab fee for all digital media studio classes: $30. All video, sound and computer equipment will be provided. Limited space available.
Fee: $250/$200 members, and free for Boston Public School students. Required lab fee for all digital media studio classes: $10. Open to high school students ages 14 – 18; no prior experience necessary.
Teen Arts Council – Apply Now! Want to help host events like Teen Nights? Want to work with contemporary artists and collaborate with other youth in Boston? Apply to be part of the Teen Arts Council and meet our current members. Applications and requests for consideration are accepted on a rolling basis. Young people ages 14 – 18 welcome. Download an application at www.icaboston.org/programs/teens. Teen Night
Friday, November 7, 6 – 9 pm It’s the first teen night of the school year! Teen Nights are the ICA’s art happenings organized and promoted for teens by teens. Our 12-member Teen Arts Council plans the events, which can include artist talks, screenings, open mikes, workshops, and other fun activities designed to expose their peers to contemporary art. Come help us take over the coolest theater in Boston! For more information about the ICA Teen Arts Council, Teen Nights, Teen New Media classes and other teen programs, please contact Krista Dahl at kdahl@icaboston.org or 617-478-3178. The John Hancock Teen Education Program is made possible by significant support from John Hancock Financial Services.
Additional support is provided by the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, the Fuller Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Family Foundation, the Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation, the Rowland Foundation, the William E. and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
24·support keeping art alive
Director’s Circle Our premier patron member level provides invaluable support for our exhibitions and programs, while offering its members even greater involvement with the people, art, and ideas of the ICA. VIP Opening Reception for Tara Donovan Tuesday, October 7, 6:30 – 9:30 pm Come toast Donovan’s first museum survey exhibition and get a preview of her wondrous sculptures. Join us in the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater at 7 pm as the curators of the exhibition give an introduction to the artist’s creative process. After Hours with the Curator The Director’s Circle signature benefit, After Hours with the Curator is a special series of events designed to bring members closer to the ICA’s exhibitions. Offered five times a year in conjunction with the changing of exhibitions, After Hours provides an intimate, curator-led tour of an exhibition followed by a cocktail reception. Save the date for the next After Hours: Tara Donovan Tuesday, October 28, 6-8 pm
Travel Opportunities Participate in domestic and international art tours designed to bring people closer to contemporary artists and art world events. Art Basel Miami Beach December 2 - 5, 2008 Join ICA Director Jill Medvedow and Chief Curator Nicholas Baume for an exclusive tour of the 2008 Art Basel Miami Beach International Art Fair. Art tour participants will discover today’s cutting-edge art during a mid-winter getaway to South Beach with visits to private collections, VIP access to the fair, and crossover events featuring music, film, fashion, architecture, and design. Art Basel Miami, now in its seventh year, is one of the most important international contemporary art shows. The 2008 Art Tour offers Director’s Circle members many unique experiences offered only by the ICA. Open to Director’s Circle Leader level members and above. For more information about travel opportunities with the Director’s Circle, please contact Susie Allen, Director of Special Events, at 617-478-3184. The Director’s Circle is sponsored by
New Group
Do you want more access to the art, ideas, people, and energy of the ICA? Take your involvement to the next level by joining the New Group, where art lovers come together through a series of events and activities. Get up close and personal with ICA artists and performers, learn from contemporary art insiders, and attend exhibition receptions. New Group programming is geared towards those 21 and over, offering exclusive quarterly events in addition to the regular benefits of membership. New Group dues are $100 for an individual and $140 for two people. Join the New Group today and attend the VIP opening reception on November 11. For more information, contact Virginia Casey at vcasey@icaboston.org or 617-478-3176.
Thank You to All of our Corporate & Foundation Partners
The Abbey Group Accenture AEW Capital Management AKRIS American Center Foundation Anonymous Bank of America The Bank of New York Mellon Be Our Guest Berkeley Investments Berklee College of Music Biogen Idec Foundation Bloomberg Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts The Boston Company Asset Management Boston Cultural Council The Boston Foundation The Boston Globe Boston Globe Foundation Boston Magazine Boston Post Office Social & Recreation Committee Boston Private Bank Boston Properties BR Alexander Cabot Corporation Cabot Family Charitable Trust Charles River Laboratories Christie’s Citi Private Bank The Clowes Fund Consulate General of France in Boston Continuum Credit Suisse, Private Banking USA Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York David Yurman Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C. Deutsche Bank Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Dunkin Brands, Inc. Eaton Vance Management Elkus Manfredi Architects Etant donnés FACE (French American Cultural Exchange) Fidelity Investments
Finnegan Henderson Farbow Garett & Dunner LLP The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Family Foundation The Lawrence K. Fish Family Charitable Foundation Foley Hoag Ford Foundation Francis Ford Coppola Presents The Fuller Foundation FUSED: French U.S. Exchange in Dance General Catalyst Goodwin Procter Google The Florence Gould Foundation Hale & Dorr Wealth Advisors LLC Hallmark Health Harpoon Brewery Harvard Outings & Innings Hassenfeld Foundation Hill, Holliday Hunt Alternatives Fund Roy A. Hunt Foundation Ilex Designs Intercontinental Boston Jane’s Trust The Janey Fund John Hancock Financial Services John Snow, Inc. JP Morgan Chase Foundation Barbara Lee Family Foundation LEF Foundation Lexus Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund Massachusetts Turnpike Authority McKenzie Family Foundation MIT Activities Committee School of the Museum of Fine Arts Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund National Dance Project National Endowment for the Arts New England Foundation for the Arts Nimoy Foundation Nixon Peabody LLP The NLT Foundation North Bridge Venture Partners
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP Old Town Trolley Tours Party By Design Phoenix Communications Group Puma Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel Rowland Foundation RSM McGladrey, Inc. Salvatore Ferragamo Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott Sotheby’s State Street Corporation Suffolk University College of Arts and Sciences SunGard Surdna Foundation Target Travel & Leisure Vinik Asset Management The Wallace Foundation The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Westin Boston Waterfront William E. and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust Wilmington Trust Winston Flowers Wolfgang Puck / Restaurant Associates Corporations and Organizations
For more information on the ICA’s Corporate Membership program, sponsorship opportunities or other strategic partnerships, please e-mail partnership@icaboston.org or call 617478-3173. Foundations and Government Agencies
For more information on how your foundation can support the ICA and the communities we serve, please contact Kristen Wawruck at 617-478-3174 or kwawruck@icaboston.org
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
27·membership fill up on art and ideas
Special Members' Viewing Hours – Tara Donovan
Annual Fund
Wednesday, October 8, 10 am – 5 pm Thursday, October 9, 10 am – 9 pm Don’t miss your chance to be at the forefront this fall as we open Tara Donovan to two days of members-only previews. All members have the opportunity to view major exhibitions prior to their opening to the public. Viewing hours take place during regular museum hours and provide a less crowded viewing experience.
Member Appreciation Night
Monday, October 20, 5:30 – 8 pm Our popular ICA Member Orientations are now Member Appreciation Nights! Member Appreciation Night is your opportunity to get an inside look at what’s happening at your museum. Hear from the Education, Programming, and Curatorial departments, sample a new dish at the Water Café, and see what’s hot in the ICA store. End the evening with a private gallery tour. Even if you have attended in the past, please join us again! There’s always something new at the ICA. Available to Supporting and Sustaining level members.
Were you among those enjoying Boston Harbor with free concerts and dance lessons this summer? Did you know that films created by students in the Fast Forward program were screened at 11 different festivals across the country? Or maybe your family enjoyed hands-on art making projects held during monthly Play Dates or school vacation week. All these programs are made possible by your generous gifts to the ICA’s annual fund. As we come close to the end of the calendar year, we hope you will consider making another gift to the annual fund. All gifts made by December 31 are 100% tax deductible and provide vital, unrestricted dollars that allow the ICA to continue providing the free programming you and your friends and family have come to enjoy. Make your 2008 Annual Fund gift online at www.icaboston.org/give.
Give the Gift of Membership! A membership to the ICA is a great holiday gift for family, friends, and teachers. Recipients receive the same privileges that you enjoy as a current member, including: • Unlimited free admission for the cardholder for a full year • Subscription to New, the ICA magazine • 10% discount in the ICA store and Water Café by Wolfgang Puck With invitations to exhibition openings and members-only viewing hours, your friends and family can join you for the opening of Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand this winter! Gift memberships are available year round and make great gifts for holidays, weddings, or graduations. All membership levels are offered and can be purchased online or by calling the Membership Office at 617-478-3102.
Photo: Mark Wilson
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
28·looking forward allow us to introduce you
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall Ugo Rondinone
Momentum 12: Gerard Byrne
November 12, 2008 – March 1, 2009
October 28, 2008 – October 18, 2009 Ugo Rondinone’s work asks us to consider the way objects, spaces, and words become infused with meaning and memory. Working in a wide range of media—multicolored concentric circle paintings, sculptures of recumbent clowns, rainbow-colored neon signs, and life-sized sculptures of gnarly olive trees—he often combines these elements in installations with sound, creating moody, evocative spaces. His choice of imagery and text is often enigmatic but also deeply personal, related to specific moments, places, and interactions. Rondinone’s titles, such as Two Stones in my Pocket, Cry me a River, and A Horse with No Name, often reference literature, poetry, and popular song lyrics. Rondinone was born in 1963 in Brunnen, Switzerland, and currently lives and works in New York. He has exhibited widely in Europe and the U.S., and he represented Switzerland in the 52nd Venice Biennale. Rondinone, whose work was introduced to Boston audiences in Super Vision, will create a new work for the ICA lobby.
Gerard Byrne’s multimedia practice refers to a range of sources, from popular magazines like Playboy and National Geographic to playwrights like Samuel Beckett. Byrne’s ongoing series of large-scale, color landscape photographs, A country road, a tree, evening, documents his quest to locate the fictive setting in rural Ireland of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In another video installation, Byrne reconstructs interviews with six young, aspiring American actors from the pages of Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. In excavating these texts, Byrne focuses our attention on how culture represents itself at a given moment in history. Born and based in Dublin, Byrne has exhibited widely in Europe. For Momentum 12 the artist will present an installation of works shown in the U.S. for the first time. The Momentum series is sponsored by
Momentum 12: Gerard Byrne is funded in part through the generous support of
Additional support is provided by the LEF Foundation and the International Council of the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Shepard Fairey: supply & demand
February 6 - April 19, 2009 Shepard Fairey is one of today’s best known and most influential street artists. Fairey has garnered international recognition through his guerilla Obey Giant campaign; for nearly twenty years, his iconic stickers and posters have commandeered street signs and building walls around the world, plastered wherever Fairey or one of his fans travels. He has also made a name for himself with everything from large-scale, mixed-media works to clothing and graphic design. Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand, the artist’s first solo museum survey, will include over 80 works, tracing the development of Fairey’s career, from early screen prints to a new, largescale mural made especially for the ICA.
Ugo Rondinone, so much water so close to home, 1997. © Ugo Rondinone. Courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich. Gerard Byrne, (Working title) *ZAN -T185 r.1: (Interview) v.1, no. 4 - v.2, no. 6, 19 (1969 -Feb. 1972); (Andy Warhol’s (Interview) v.2, no. 21 - v.3, no. 9. Photo: Giorgio Boato. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London. Shepard Fairey, Print and Destroy (detail), 2000. Courtesy of the artist.
30·the JAMES AND AUDREY FOSTER PRIZE catching up with boston’s brightest
meet the finalists Once again, it’s time to get to know four
artist who demonstrates exceptional promise.
early-career artists making an impact in
Selected from several dozen nominated artists
Greater Boston and beyond. While present-
by a distinguished jury who will also decide
ing vastly different views of the world around
the winner, the finalists present their work in
us in a variety of media, they all share a
a new exhibition on view through March 1,
confident artistic approach—a sign of break-
2009. Here they answer some of our burn-
throughs to come. They are the finalists for
ing questions, allowing us a brief glimpse into
the James and Audrey Foster Prize, a
their artistic practice.
biennial award of $25,000 given to a Boston
Catherine D’Ignazio
Catherine D’Ignazio
Born in 1975 in Chapel Hill, NC. Lives and works in Waltham. Education: BA, Tufts University, 1997; MFA, Maine College of Art, 2005. Teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Digital and Media Graduate Program. What led you to become an artist? How many things could I list?
Let’s see: high school collages, Goya, educational technology workshops, art history classes in Paris, being confused by the Lips of Thomas, making scrolls, watercolor painting that looked exactly like my cat’s fur, picnics under highways, Alaska, moving a lot as a child, stupid
rules, being a blonde white woman, making things talk, books with pictures, computer camp, space camp, regretting not transgressing, turning scarves into skirts, chewing too many pieces of gum at the same time. I’m sure there is much more but I’m not sure how interesting it really is.
Catherine D’Ignazio, It takes 154,000 breaths to evacuate Boston, 2007
As an artist, are you more inspired by other art, or by the world at large? Both, of course! I don’t see
art as being separate from the world at large. Continued next page
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
RaNia Matar
How would you describe your working process? Social. I am a very bad
studio artist. Many other people are involved in the conception, production and reception of the work. When I claim that my work is my own, it is basically a big lie. Or maybe not. I’m actually confused about who makes my work, which is probably why I operate under different names and collaborate with different groups and people. What do you hope people will experience when they encounter your work? Of course this is different
for every piece. Sometimes humor is a good starting point, as it can be very disarming to laugh. But in other cases, I want to make people uncomfortable or challenge their expectations of the space around them. And sometimes I just want people to agree with my point of view. Every work has its own affective strategy. If you could choose any other profession besides art, what would it be?
Few artists are only artists. I am also an art professor, a computer programmer, and a yoga teacher. I think my future professions will include: mom (starting in August), dancer (I haven’t yet started to work on this one, but I have a good feeling about it), and folk singer with my
family band (we will be called the Three Merry Buckets, though our name may change as we add to the family).
Rania Matar
Born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. Lives and works in Brookline. Education: BArch, Cornell University, 1987; New England School of Photography, Maine Photographic Workshops What led you to become an artist? After working as an architect
for many years, I took photography workshops when I was pregnant with my fourth child. I got the same rush out of it as I used to designing projects without the burden of real life issues of construction, when it was all a big canvas. I loved the medium’s capacity to tell a story through art, and I never went back to architecture. I was also very lucky to find a project I became passionate about while I was in Lebanon and visited the refugee camps around Beirut. It was as if everything I had done and lived so far converged into my current work: growing up in Lebanon during the civil war, my current life in the U.S., my role as a mother, my architectural training, and my love for the arts.
As an artist, are you more inspired by other art, or by the world at large? I am inspired by both, and I
think in photography these converge. My architectural training combined with my interest in painting are part of how I view the world and photograph it. It is an inherent part of my work in composition, texture, light and shadow, and filling the frame. I was always interested in the beauty and softness of Impressionism and the complexity of Cubism. The world at large is equally important. Photography by its nature represents the world, or at least a specific moment and place in it. My work is about real people living in the real world, even when I represent them in an artistic manner and take them out of context. It is the fraction of a second in the world at large that is frozen and becomes a work of art. How would you describe your working process? First, I travel, and I
basically live photography intensely for periods of time. Then I discover what I came back with. Working mainly with film, there is the element of joy and surprise when discovering that it is correctly exposed and developed. I get a first glimpse of the composition of the image, the contrast and the overall quality without the specifics. In editing,
I rediscover my images and relive the moments I photographed—a lot of surprises come out of that process. The fourth phase is actually crafting the image. I work both in the darkroom and digitally by scanning negatives to get the right tones and the right feel for the image. This is when a good image can become a beautiful and powerful image. The last phase is exhibiting the work. This was a huge leap for me. An artist can feel very exposed and vulnerable when the work is public and out there for everyone to see, to like, to dislike, to relate to and get moved by, or to hate and criticize.
What do you hope people will experience when they encounter your work? I hope they are moved and that
they see people just like them. I hope they can see the humanity in people often portrayed as different. I hope to give a face to people who are often ignored. When people die in a war, we refer to them as “collateral damage,” and they become numbers and statistics. These are all very impersonal terms. I hope they can see the faces of people who survive war and who live in refugee camps, and women who are veiled, and see that they are just human beings like everyone else, that
they just want for their kids the same things we all do, and that life has to go on, no matter what one’s circumstances or background.
Rania Matar, Newspapers, Beirut 2007; and Juggling, Beirut 2007
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
andrew witkin
Andrew Witkin
Born in 1977 in Boston. Lives and works in Boston. Education: BA, Wesleyan University, 1999; MA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University, 2003. What led you to become an artist? It just happened. As an artist, are you more inspired by other art, or by the world at large? The world at large inspires, as
does art. How would you describe your working process? I accumulate. I
don’t collect for a specific goal. I make objects/experiences/sound/etc. without a specific purpose. I try to be open. It’s as if there’s a conveyer belt, and I choose what to take off. At certain moments, it becomes relevant to engage the various elements, and at that moment, a work is made. Within this, I always question how much is let in or kept out, how much is diaristic and how much is universal. Even responding to these questions is a process of deciding how much to explain and how much to leave unsaid...
What do you hope people will experience when they encounter your work? I mostly hope that people will
As an artist, are you more inspired by other art, or by the world at large? I don’t think of myself as ever
be open to exploring it.
having been inspired in the sense of have an artistic muse. I think of art-making as a conversation. Like all conversations, we draw from our various experiences and speak to what we know. I’m a person living in the world, and I look at a lot of art, so my conversations are informed by the things I’ve seen. I think it’s important not to create a separation between the two—art is part of the world, and the world at large is part of art.
If you could choose any other profession besides art, what would it be? I hope that I would not have to
choose another profession.
Joe Zane
Born in 1971 in Utica, NY. Lives and works in Cambridge. Education: BFA, Alfred University, 1992; MFA, Cornell University, 2003. What led you to become an artist? I’m not sure there is a
particular moment when one says, “OK, I’m an artist now.” Art is like a language. It is a way of communicating ideas visually through making objects or through actions. Communicating through an art practice has always been very natural for me, and it’s something I’ve developed (and continue to develop) over a long period of time. Like learning any language, I don’t think I could point to a source and say “this is what led me to speak this way.” It is simply the way that I’m most comfortable articulating myself.
How would you describe your working process? I get up early in
the morning and have some coffee. Then I work in my studio. I try to eat a decent meal once a day. I try to get a good night’s sleep. What do you hope people will experience when they encounter your work? My work usually exists
in a gallery setting, so people have to seek it out. This alone frames the experience and sets up a conversation between the viewer and the art. As an artist, I’m interested in playing with that set of knowledge and expectations that viewers already have when they walk into an exhibition. I’m not trying to
joe zane imply that a viewer’s experience with my work is arbitrary or unmediated by what I do as an artist, but I don’t have a goal or a statement to make. I am aware that meaning shifts from context to context and viewer to viewer. I’m most interested in that shift and creating works that allow for meaning to slip from one thing to the next. For me, the more polyvalent the experience, the better. If you could choose any other profession besides art, what would it be? I wouldn’t choose any other profession; I’m too busy working on making art be my profession. Related programs
Talk: James and Audrey Foster Prize Finalists Sunday, December 7, 1 pm (see p. 15).
Andrew Witkin, Untitled, 1997-2007; Joe Zane, Puppet Joe, 2007
Go Further!
The James and Audrey Foster Prize has sparked lively debate within Greater Boston’s art community. Share your thoughts about this year’s finalists on the Poss Family Mediatheque’s “Question of the Month” page.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2008
36·picks
ways to spend time, not money
Fall Fun on the Cheap The ICA has plenty of ways to get your fill of contemporary culture for free—Target Free Thursday Nights, Play Dates, free audio tours, free guided tours six times a week, and new curator talks during your lunch hour, free with admission. We asked our Visitor Services staff to suggest some more creative ways to take your penny-pinching to the streets (and trails) around Boston.
Samantha Kattan What the Fluff? Festival
Union Square Plaza, Somerville Saturday, September 27 Celebrate Somerville’s culinary contribution to history with this fun-filled tribute to Marshmallow Fluff. Last year’s 90th anniversary of Archibald Query’s 1917 invention featured a science fair, cooking contest, tug of war, gallery show, and entertainment including live music and the Flufferettes. Don’t miss this year’s Election Special! For more information, log onto www.unionsquaremain.org. Skyela Heitz The 30th Annual Oktoberfest
Harvard Square, Cambridge Sunday, October 12 Even if bratwurst and sauerkraut aren’t your cup of tea, here are six reasons you should celebrate this 200-yearold autumn tradition with a distinctly Cantabrigian flavor: 1) Everybody loves a parade; 2) Sample great food from local restaurants at reasonable prices; 3) Try artisanal, seasonal, and, of course, German beers; 4) Hundreds of street vendors selling artworks, jewelry, vintage clothing, and more; 5) Pumpkins! 6) Six stages of live music. For more information, log onto www.harvardsquare.com.
Chad Kroll Hiking the Trails at Blue Hills Reservation
This is a great way to see views of the Boston skyline, the Harbor Islands, and the south shore. There is a small area featuring live native animals, a bog walk, and numerous trails for hiking, biking, or walking. Best of all, it’s only a few minutes south of the city! For information and trail maps, visit www.mass.gov/dcr.
Kelly Kerrigan Fort Point Open Studios
October 17 – October 19 Hundreds of local artists open their studios to the public for the weekend to showcase and sell their work. This is a great way to see new art while getting a glimpse of how artists live and work, as well as checking out some unique lofts and buildings in Boston. It’s fun to see how people have found creative ways to transform old spaces into working studios and living space. Fort Point was the first area in Boston to do an open studios event. Many other neighborhoods have followed in their footsteps and hold open studio events throughout the fall.
New
the magazine of the Institute of contemporary art/boston Editor
Brigham Fay Communications Manager, Creative Services and the Web art director
JosĂŠ Nieto Senior Designer Design
JosĂŠ Nieto Rachel Newborn
Photo by Matthew Semel
Give Us Your Best Shot Join our Flickr group and share your photos of the ICA. We may pick one to use in the magazine! (Remember, no photography in the galleries. Thanks.)
SHOP
ICA Store at the Holly McGrath Design Center
The Best in Design, Now Online! www.icastore.org The ICA Store scours the art and design world to bring you the best books, jewelry, housewares, toys, and much more. Now it’s even easier to find the perfect gift for the design lovers and art junkies in your life. Show your ICA pride with our new t-shirts, support local designers, or bring the magic of Tara Donovan’s sculptures home with her new monograph. Log on today, and don’t forget your Member discount!
Shop the ICA Store from anywhere—even South Africa! Momentum artist Nicholas Hlobo models the ICA “Audacious” t-shirt in his hometown, Johannesburg.
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