New: ICA Boston Magazine Su10

summer 2010 Charles LeDray / Dr. Lakra / Co Lab: Process + Performance / Chief Curator Q & A / Chef Picks

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 Come together. Stand out.

CONTENTS

Dear Members and Friends,

02 Charles LeDray 06 On View

This summer we present an interesting juxtaposition of artists: Charles LeDray and Dr. Lakra. One artist’s work is quiet and introspective, the other’s provocative and often bawdy. The wearers of LeDray’s garments are poignantly absent, while the skin underneath one’s clothes is the main event for Dr. Lakra. Certainly both are adept with a needle, but the real fascination lies in their work’s complex overlaps between belonging and separating, community and the individual.

Tattoos can indicate being part of a certain culture, subculture, or even gang. At the same time, it is a deeply personal form of self-expression. LeDray’s creations often identify with a particular group—army fatigues, a museum guard’s uniform, hippie-style embroidered patches—yet communicate a powerful sense of isolation. Their unique practices tap into our contemporary culture—both the DIY emphasis on manual craft and the increasing popularity of tattoos—while evoking the past in their absorbing explorations of identity.

Self-expression, belonging, and establishing one’s identity are issues we can all relate to, but they are especially relevant for today’s teens. This summer the ICA will present the second annual National Convening for Teens in the Arts. Last year, fiercely committed teens from five museums/art centers across the country articulated the importance of contemporary art museums for leadership development and art training. By listening to them and through the access provided by the John Hancock Teen Education Program, the Verizon Foundation’s support of Teen New Media Programs, State Street Corporation’s Free Admission for Youth, and the Boston, Surdna, and Rowland Foundations, we are deepening our commitment to teens and arts education.

As members, you know the power of belonging. By supporting the ICA, you support the contemporary art community in Boston and recognize the need for a place where artists, performers, thinkers, families, and teens can experiment, create, learn, and be inspired.

Inside the ICA, we are all inspired by our new Chief Curator, and I hope you’ll join me in officially welcoming Helen Molesworth to the ICA family. Admired and respected across the art community, she has a distinctive vision for the history of, and future for, contemporary art. You can get to know Helen a bit more with our feature on p. 12. We can’t wait for her to bring that vision to our galleries, and I know you will all find inspiration in her passion for art and its role in our individual and collective lives.

Programs 09 Membership 10 Support 12 Interview 14 Looking Forward 16 Picks Back Cover: ICA Store

See you on the waterfront,

Jill Medvedow, Director

Jill Medvedow photo: Mitch Epstein. Cover : Charles LeDray, Charles, 1995. Collection of Barbara and Leonard Kaban. RIGHT : Dr. Lakra, Sin título / Untitled (Don Getulio Vargas), 2006. Collection of Geri and Arnie Obler, New York.

02·CHARLES LEDRAY

Taking handmade to a whole new level

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

workworkworkworkwork July 16 – October 17, 2010 Charles LeDray throws clay pots that are smaller than many peoples’ fingers. His objects carved from human bone—a door, a bench, a model of the solar system—are rendered

with astonishing precision to sixteenths of an inch. A tangle of meticulously sewn clothes, some barely visible but nonetheless complete, pile onto Party Bed (2006 -2007), which rests on a hand-hooked rug just over four feet long.

In an era of high-tech production values, the New York-based sculptor insists on a painstaking manual process that lends deep feeling to each of his works. The artist’s touch is evident in everything he makes, working in remarkable detail over weeks and years. While LeDray’s techniques are rooted in the traditions of folk art and he learned to sew at home, his art is in no way “naïve.” He absorbed and was inspired by centuries of art as a museum guard and art handler, and has drawn comparisons to artists such as Robert Gober and Mike Kelley. LeDray’s work, however, achieves a level of technical virtuosity few contemporary artists can match.

LeDray doesn’t set out to make small-scale sculpture—a notion that might strike you as odd when you’re bending down to get a better look at one of his creations.

Instead of thinking of them as “reduced” versions of common objects, consider the sculptures as simply the size they need

to be—small enough to demand that we look closer and to let us know they’ve been made by hand. These works aren’t undersized; they are concentrated, with an emotional impact that far exceeds their dimensions.

The exhibition takes its title from workworkworkworkwork (1991), a piece with 588 individual handmade objects that conjure castoff items one might find for sale on the sidewalk. The ICA will premiere Throwing Shadows (20082010), an extraordinary new ceramic work including more than 3,000 black porcelain pots, each less than two inches tall. The exhibition also features the U.S. debut of the major installation MENS SUITS (2006-09), which recreates three rooms of a secondhand clothing shop: the clothing racks at knee-height, the drop ceiling you have to crouch to see beneath, and laundry bins overflowing with garments all made by hand. In a scene seemingly suspended in time, these objects, like all of LeDray’s, stand in for the lives through which they appear to pass.

Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork will travel to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Individual support for the exhibition has been provided by Nina and Michael Zilkha.

In the ICA Store

A comprehensive illustrated catalogue, designed by Stefan Sagmeister, will feature essays by Artangel Co-Director and Curator James Lingwood, former ICA Curator Jen Mergel, and Adam Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Price $45 ($40.50 members). Available at www.icastore.org.

Learn more with the ICA’s FREE audio commentary.

Access on your cell phone at 617-231-4055, download from www.icaboston.org/gofurther, or borrow an iPod from the Holly McGrath Visitor Center.

Member Events

See p. 10 Related Programs

Talks p. P6 Families p. P7

PREVIOUS PAGE: Charles LeDray, Milk and Honey (detail),1994-96.

Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Purchase, with funds from Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Committee 96.75a-b.

LEFT, TOP : MENS SUITS (installation view), 2009. Commission for Artangel, London. Courtesy of the artist and Sperone Westwater, New York. BOTTOM : Toy Chest, 2005-06. Collection of Katherine and Keith L. Sachs, Rydal, PA. RIGHT : Hall Tree, 2006. Private Collection, Houston, TX.

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

06·on view The doctor is in

“I see my work, my tattoo work and other formats, as a mixture of different iconographies from different cultures and places.

I’m always trying to deal with this basic primal urge. Primitive instincts like sex, violence, graffiti, are all innate [to] human beings and not tied to one culture.”

– Dr. Lakra

Dr. Lakra, Sin título / Untitled (detail), 2010. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto gallery, Mexico City. Photo: John Kennard.

Dr. Lakra

Through September 6, 2010 The provocative works of Dr. Lakra (born Jerónimo López Ramírez, 1972) explore the tensions between social structures and primal urges, the group and the individual, sacred and secular. Even his pseudonym, inspired by his habit of carrying tattoo equipment in a black doctor’s bag, is a clash of opposites: lakra, a Spanish colloquialism meaning “delinquent,” follows a title that commands respect.

Dr. Lakra is well known for his work as a tattooist and has traveled from California to Thailand to the Philippines to work with artists still practicing traditional tattooing techniques.

But he considers himself first and foremost a draftsman. His influences embrace the rich history of illustration in his native Mexico, as well as comics, graphic novels, and pulp fiction.

Layered over vintage printed materials and found objects, the iconic Day of the Dead images of Manuel Manilla and José Guadalupe Posada meet the overt sexuality of R. Crumb. Juxtapositions of sex and death, old and new abound, as grotesque creatures encircle seductive women and society portraits bear symbols of fierce modern-day gangs.

The artist’s first solo museum exhibition, Dr. Lakra presents over 60 works in a variety of media. In works on paper he inserts his imagery into Japanese prints, portraits from Maori and other cultures, and magazine images of pin-ups, Mexican wrestlers, and advertising. The artist tattooed sculptural objects including plastic cups and Kewpie dolls and created a new mural for the ICA. No surface is spared from Dr. Lakra’s unique practice encompassing our contemporary fascination with tattoos, art historical references from Goya to Bosch, and questions of desire and identity that transcend culture.

Dr. Lakra is curated by Pedro Alonzo with coordination

by Curatorial Associate Bridget Hanson.

Learn more with the ICA’s FREE audio commentary.

Access on your cell phone at 617-231-4055, download from www.icaboston.org/gofurther, or borrow an iPod from the Holly McGrath Visitor Center.

Converse is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Dr. Lakra exhibition

Media Sponsor

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

08·on view

Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall

Francesca DiMattio July 3, 2010 – August 14, 2011 Francesca DiMattio’s dizzying, perspective-defying paintings combine imagery from a wide range of architectural, decorative, and art historical sources, weaving together tiled floors, construction cranes, and even disco balls. To construct these compositions, she laces together underlying grid patterns, lending a sense of logic to her seemingly chaotic assemblages. Creating work that combines creation and destruction, opulence and ruins, DiMattio describes her approach as “getting into trouble and getting out of it.”

Also on View

ICA Collection: In the Making Through July 18

Francesca DiMattio, Greenhouse (detail), 2010.

Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, New York.

p ro g r a m s at t h e i c a

Performance Talks/families teens

THE I N STIT U TE O F CO N TEMPORARY ART/ B OSTO N   summer 2010

Save on cuttingedge dance, music, talks, and more

Subscribers Buy a package of three or more programs and pay the member price—a savings of 20%

Groups A 20% discount is available for parties of 10 or more.

Members Buy a package of three or more programs and save an extra $10 in addition to your regular 20% discount

Students Same-day student rush tickets are available for most shows for $10 at the box office one hour before the show. Must present a valid student ID; cash only. One ticket per student.

To take advantage of these discounts, visit the box office at the Holly McGrath Visitor Center or call 617-478-3103 (not available online).

Restrictions may apply. For all programs, a $3 processing fee per ticket will be added to phone and online orders for non-members.

COVER: Rashaun Mitchell. Photo: Stacey Mark. ABOVE: Miguel Gutierrez. Photo: Alex Escalante.

Co Lab: Process Co-presented with Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy

Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater

Some of America’s best artists come together in dynamic collaborations between the visual arts, poetry, and dance.

During a residence at the ICA this July, the artists will create, refine, and present new works and share insights into the creative process.

Tickets: Each performance: $20 members and students; $25 nonmembers

PERFORMING ARTS

Concerts without walls, creativity without boundaries—great music comes to the waterfront and great artists inspire each other in our summer performance season

+ Performance

The Callithumpian Consort

The Sinking of the Titanic Friday, August 20, 7 pm

Anne Carson and Rashaun Mitchell

Jenny Holzer and Miguel Gutierrez

Bracko and Nox, a New Work in Progress Tuesday, July 20, 7 pm

Wednesday, July 28, 7 pm

Poems by the great Greek writer Sappho are the basis for Bracko, a transporting exploration of language and movement. In her magnificent translations of the fragmented poems, Carson uses brackets to stand in for the missing material, providing an air of mystery. “Brackets imply a free space of imaginal adventure,” she writes. As Carson reads aloud, Rashaun Mitchell and Marcie Munnerlyn, both leading dancers with Merce Cunningham Dance Company, will inhabit these gaps with their own sublime dance artistry. Mitchell has been described as “the most riveting” (New York Times) member of MCDC, where he has danced for six years. He will be joined by Silas Reiner, also a current member of MCDC, in a new work in progress inspired by Nox, Carson’s first book of poetry in five years, which includes old letters, family photos, collages, and sketches.

Holzer is well known for her projects using language in public space, from her Truisms on LED billboards to de-classified government documents projected on the sides of buildings. She first collaborated with a choreographer in 1985, in the iconic Holzer Duet…

Truisms with Bill T. Jones. More than two decades later, Holzer pairs her provocative and inspired text projections with the maverick moves and text inventions of Bessie Award-winning choreographer Miguel Gutierrez, one of contemporary dance’s most original voices.

Hear British composer Gavin Bryars’s seminal improvisational piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, inspired by firsthand accounts of the famed shipwreck’s survivors, performed outdoors by new music ensemble The Callithumpian Consort. This rarely-heard musical masterpiece, inspired by the Titanic’s band playing hymns as the ship sank, will leave you mesmerized as it conjures the roar of the ocean, the clang of a ship’s hull, and the final contemplative moments at sea.

Immerse yourself in this hour-long meditation in the evocative waterfront setting of the ICA. Founded by pianist and conductor Stephen Drury, The Callithumpian Consort is flexible in size and makeup, yet always features a senior band of longstanding Thump soloists. Their repertoire encompasses a huge stylistic spectrum, from the classics of the last 50 years, to works of the avantgarde and experimental jazz and rock.

Tickets: $15 members and students; $20 general admission

THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs summer 2010 / P3

HARBORWALK SOUNDS Target Free Thursday Nights July 8 – August 26 6 – 8:30 pm Summer nights, cool sounds, and our waterfront setting continue to be an unbeatable combination, and we’re thrilled to provide two full months of live music. Join us on the Hassenfeld Harborway to hear Berklee College of Music’s best students, faculty, and alumni. After you’ve hit the galleries, grab a beer while the band jams, or sip some sangria and enjoy Latin rhythms.

Free

July 8: July 15: July 22: July 29: August 5: August 12: August 19: August 26:

Sierra Hull Tais Alvarenga Pinchback Blues Nini+Ben Berklee Global Jazz Institute Buffalo Soul Eric Robertson and The Boston Boys Liz Longley

The HarborWalk Sounds series is sponsored by Karmaloop.com

P4 / Performance/Talks/families/teens

TALKS

Transforming the ordinary into extraordinary? Check. Changing our perceptions? Check. Come see why visual artists don’t get all the fun.

Talking Taste Fridays, 6:30 pm

Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette

It’s back and more delicious than ever with our best lineup of chefs yet. Sample the creations that have made them stars outdoors on our stunning waterfront. It’s a sensory explosion you won’t want to miss!

Friday, July 9 Ken Oringer has earned rave reviews since he opened the elegant Parisian-style supper club Clio in 1997.

Earning consistent Top 10 rankings, Oringer has since opened a smorgasbord of restaurants including Uni, La Verdad, KO Prime, Toro, and his newest venture, Coppa.

As executive chef at Toro and Coppa, Jamie Bissonnette crosses Europe’s culinary map to create delicious menus full of locally-sourced and sustainable ingredients. Known nationally for his exceptional charcuterie, Bissonnette brings a fervor to cooking matched only by his passionate support of local suppliers.

All four talks (not available online): $20 members; $32 students; $40 general admission Individual talks: $10 members and students; $15 general admission

This series is not eligible for the subscriber discount.

Talking Taste is sponsored by

TOP : Barbara Lynch

Barry Maiden

Friday, July 16 Virginia native Barry Maiden’s Frenchinspired Southern comfort cooking has made Cambridge’s Hungry Mother one of the hottest tables in town. Formerly of L’Espalier and Lumiere, Maiden was named a Best New Chef of 2009 by Food and Wine magazine.

Tony Maws

Friday, July 23 As chef and proprietor of Cambridge’s Craigie on Main, Tony Maws combines the freshest New England ingredients with the zeal of the Slow Food movement. Offering a menu of “refined rusticity,” Craigie on Main was named a Best New Restaurant in 2009 by GQ and landed Maws a James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef Northeast.

Barbara Lynch

Friday, July 30 Lynch is best known for her stunning cuisine at Beacon Hill’s No. 9 Park and the South End staples The Butcher Shop and B&G Oyster. This Boston legend has now expanded her horizons due south to the Fort Point neighborhood, opening Drink and Sportello to a swooning local foodie community.

The James Beard Award-winning chef recently released her cookbook Stir to critical praise from Gourmet, Food and Wine, and Bon Appetit.

THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs summer 2010 / P5

Gallery Talks Free with museum admission. We recommend viewing the exhibition before the program.

Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork

Shop Talk Sunday, July 25, 2 pm LeDray’s MENS SUITS, a three-part, scaled-down store display, is a fascinating look at the relationship between clothing and identity. Join Christopher Luxton and Sue Otto, Creative Directors at Urban Outfitters, as they discuss the role of display in their (fullsize) stores.

Dress Patterns Sunday, August 8, 2 pm Take a closer look at LeDray’s remarkable handmade garments with Kathleen McDermott, a historian who has spent 20 years pursuing the connections between history, business, culture, and fashion. An instructor in fashion history at MassArt and RISD, she is also an accomplished hat designer.

Free Public Tours All about the art, minus the art speak.

Target Free Thursday Nights, 6 and 7 pm Saturdays and Sundays, 1 and 2:30 pm

P6 / Performance/Talks/families/teens

FAMILIES

“Many local museums have traditional fine arts programs for teenagers and younger children…The ICA stands out” —Boston Globe

Play Dates

Positively Captivating Portraits

Join us on the last Saturday of the 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 (though we do recommend you arrive early). 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, email families@icaboston.org or call Kathleen Lomatoski at 617-478-3134.

Saturday, August 28, 10 am - 4 pm See Charles LeDray’s unusual and amazing works, crafted carefully by hand, then step into the Bank of America Art Lab to create individual or family sculptural portraits. Ready for more fun? Visit the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater for films and performances by guest artists. Check our website for upcoming information.

Activities in the Bank of America Art Lab are made possible by

Effervescing Adventures

Inside the Creative Process

Saturday, June 26, 10 am – 4 pm Don your sun hats and sandals and join us on the waterfront to celebrate summer’s arrival. Activities will be offered throughout the day on the grandstand (weather-permitting), and don’t miss the return of Bubblemania

by Casey Carle, a Play Date favorite, in the theater. Visit the ICA Collection to fire up your imagination, and take part in our second annual children’s art-making contest, focused on drawing this year. Check our website for upcoming contest details.

Saturday, July 31, 10 am – 4 pm Bring the family to see a mural made of comics created by ICA teens. Learn firsthand how murals are created, and try your hand at drawings of all shapes and sizes with guest artist Raul Gonzalez. Step on our stage at 1 pm for a workshop that shows how dances are made with Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy and their guest choreographers. The family movement workshop will be followed by presentations of youth dance and a choreographer’s showcase at 1:30 pm.

Generous support of ICA Youth Education is provided by JP Morgan Chase Foundation and the Cabot Family Charitable Trust.

THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs summer 2010 / P7

We’ll give you the tools, you tell the stories

Summer Video Boot Camp

Tuesday, August 3 – Friday, August 6 11 am – 5 pm Interested in making videos or films? Join Video Boot Camp, an intensive video, audio, and new media art program.

Students will visit the ICA galleries to view and discuss exhibitions and create group and individual work for critique, presentation, and distribution. All completed work will be screened at the end of the week as well as shared on the ICA Teens website. If you have ever dreamed of being a filmmaker or new media artist, this is the program for you.

Fee: Free for BPS students; $250 members; $300 nonmembers; required lab fee of $10

Open to high school students entering grades 9 -12. All video, sound, and computer equipment is provided. This program can be used as a prerequisite for Fast Forward.

teens

graphic storytelling. A collaborative installation from the residency will be on view at the Play Date on July 31, with a public opening reception on Sunday, August 1, 3 – 5 pm.

Gonzalez, an experienced teacher of teens in museums, will be a featured speaker at the second annual National Convening for Teens in the Arts in August.

Free for BPS students, advance registration is required.

Register online at www.icateens.org.

Residency support generously sponsored by the Nimoy Foundation.

For more information about teen programs at the ICA, please contact Rosanna Flouty, Associate Director of Education, at rflouty@icaboston.org or 617-478-3132.

The John Hancock Teen Education Program is made possible by significant support from John Hancock Financial Services.

Register online at www.icateens.org.

Teen New Media Classes are sponsored in part by the Verizon Foundation.

Raul Gonzalez: Making Murals for Teens

Tuesday, July 27 – Friday, July 30 10:30 am – 4:30 pm Tour the city of Boston with artist Raul Gonzalez, and create a site-specific mural installation at the ICA. After peer-led tours of historic Boston with a focus on the South End and Chinatown, teens will trace personal narratives through

P8 / Performance/Talks/families/teens

Additional support is provided by the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Fireman Foundation, the Rowland Foundation, the William E. and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, and the Surdna Foundation.

Teachers School may be out, but art is always in

Classroom Connections Tuesday, August 3, 10 - 11:30 am Boston-area educators continue to amaze us with their innovative approaches to incorporating contemporary art into their curriculum. Before the school year begins, we’d like to offer teachers a head start. Join Education Director Monica Garza as she introduces the upcoming season of exhibitions, answers questions, and illustrates how some multidisciplinary educators have introduced contemporary art to their students. Non-art educators are encouraged to attend!

Free admission; reservations required. To RSVP, please e-mail teachers@icaboston.org by Friday, July 30.

Dr. Lakra, Sin título / Untitled (Cupido), 2004.

Cesar Cervantes Collection.

THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs summer 2010 / P9

CALENDAR JUNE 6/26 Play Date

7/28 Performance

AUGUST

Wednesday, 7 pm

8/5 Music

Jenny Holzer and Miguel Gutierrez

Effervescing Adventures

Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm

HarborWalk Sounds

7/29 Music

HarborWalk Sounds

JULY 7/8 Music

HarborWalk Sounds

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 7/9 Talking Taste

Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette

Friday, 6:30 pm

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 8/8 Gallery Talk

Dress Patterns

7/30 Talking Taste

Barbara Lynch

Friday, 6:30 pm

Sunday, 2 pm 8/12 Music

HarborWalk Sounds

7/31 Play Date

Inside the Creative Process

Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 8/19 Music

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 7/16 Talking Taste

Barry Maiden

Friday, 6:30 pm 7/20 Performance

Anne Carson and Rashaun Mitchell

Tuesday, 7 pm 7/22 Music

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 8/20 Music

The Callithumpian Consort

Friday, 7 pm 8/26 Music

HarborWalk Sounds

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm 8/28 Play Date

Positively Captivating Portraits

Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm

Thursday, 6 – 8:30 pm

Teen Events p. P8

7/23 Talking Taste

Teacher Events p. P9

HarborWalk Sounds

Tony Maws

Friday, 6:30 pm 7/25 Gallery Talk Shop Talk

Sunday, 2 pm

1 Visit us at www.icaboston.org

2 Stop by the Holly McGrath Visitor Center during regular museum hours or one hour before the program

3 Call us at 617-478-3103

HarborWalk Sounds

Music

HarborWalk Sounds

Three Ways to Buy Tickets

Tickets are available online until 24 hours before a program. A $3 processing fee per ticket will be added to phone and online orders for nonmembers.

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.

ON VIEW ICA Collection: In the Making

Through July 18, 2010 Dr. Lakra

Through September 6, 2010 Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Francesca DiMattio

July 3, 2010 – August 14, 2011 Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork

July 16 – October 17, 2010 ICA Collection

August 4, 2010 – July 4, 2011

UPCOMING 2010 James and Audrey Foster Prize

September 22, 2010 – January 17, 2011 Mark Bradford: You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)

November 19, 2010 – March 13, 2011

Now Your Ticket Takes You Farther!

When you buy a ticket to any performance or talk, you’ll also receive same-day admission to the ICA galleries FREE. Check out our latest exhibitions before or after the program, as long as it’s during regular museum hours.

TOP : Charles LeDray, Village People (detail), 2003-2006. Collection of John and Amy Phelan. RIGHT : Dr. Lakra, Sin título / Untitled (Tab. 27), 2009. Private collection.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Via public transportation: Take the Red Line to South Station and transfer to the Silver Line Waterfront. The ICA is short walk from either World Trade Center or Courthouse station.

Museum, Store & Cafe Hours

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.

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, Patriot’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day.

Accessibility

The ICA is fully wheelchair and stroller accessible.

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 TTY 617-478-3287

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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.

By car: The ICA is easily accessible from both I-90 and I-93. Please visit www.icaboston.org for detailed driving directions.

Official Hotel Sponsor

Directions

The ICA is located at 100 Northern Avenue on Boston’s waterfront. It is a short walk from downtown and easily accessible by public transportation. We are also just two blocks from the I-93 and Mass Turnpike off-ramps. Please visit our website for detailed driving directions.

There are a number of affordable paid parking available in lots located nearby. There is some on-street parking. Members receive a $2 discount on parking at the Fan Pier lot on weekends and Monday holidays.

THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/ BOSTON

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ICA Free Admission for Youth is generously sponsored by the State Street Corporation

Target Free Thursday Nights are sponsored by

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$15 general admission $13 seniors $10 students FREE members and youth 17 and under FREE after 5 pm every Thursday for Target Free Thursday Nights FREE families (up to 2 adults per family with children 12 and under) on the last Saturday of the month, except December.

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Admission

T h e Inst it u t e o f C o n t e mpo r a ry A r t /B o sto n

100 Northern Avenue Boston, MA 02210

09·at the ica

What’s happening on the waterfront

TOP 10 REASONS TO BECOME AN ICA TOUR GUIDE

From the people who know best: tour guides Anne Simone, Brigid, Dan, Marilyn, Patricia, and Vicci

10 It’s the perfect social introduction for someone new to the area

9

Seeing visitors’ smiles, and slightly dizzy looks, when taking them into the Mediatheque for the first time

8 7

The training program is to die for

6

The program is reciprocal—you give your time, but you also benefit from learning new things and being intellectually engaged

Having a chance to smack down the notion, every time you speak to a group, that stuffy Boston has no cool contemporary art spaces

5

Blowing away the reputation of contemporary art that it’s too precious or esoteric to reach people

4

The most enjoyable tours are the ones where you have to win people over

3 2 1

Volunteerism is important You never know how you will become inspired You never know who you will inspire

We want you! Join our dynamic community of volunteer men and women from diverse backgrounds but with a shared interest in the art of our time. As key members of the Education Department, tour guides encourage visitors of all ages to develop an appreciation for contemporary art and culture.

No prior experience or training is required, but you must enjoy working with people and show a passion for culture and creative expression. Selected applicants will participate in a 10-session course this fall, Mondays, 10 – 11:30 am. After graduation, all guides lead four tours per month and participate in evening training sessions for new exhibitions throughout the year.

If you are interested in applying, please send a cover letter and resume to tours@icaboston.org by June 25.

Visit the museum on Free Fun Friday!

Friday, August 20, 10 am - 9 pm We’re partnering with the Highland Street Foundation to make an entire day at the museum free of charge to everyone. Bring the family and enjoy art on the harbor, free of charge, on a summer day!

National Convening for Teens in the Arts Wednesday, August 11 – Friday, August 13 The ICA’s second annual National Convening for Teens in the Arts brings together teens and facilitators from nationally recognized teen arts programs to share best practices in the field. Hear from young people from across the country who have become leaders within their arts organizations. A facilitated discussion with a nationwide focus and exchange of ideas will be online at www.icateens.org. While some sessions are closed to the general public, we invite teens, artists, and educators for the opening session on Wednesday, August 11, 6 - 8 pm.

Please RSVP to rflouty@icaboston.org by August 1— we welcome your participation!

Photo: John Kennard

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

10·members

Now it costs even less to see more

Upcoming Member Events

Watch your inbox for electronic invitations. RSVPs are required for member events—please respond as indicated in the e-mail.

Make sure we have your preferred e-mail address— drop us a note at gogreen@icaboston.org. If you do not have e-mail, please contact the membership office at 617-4783102 to receive additional event information.

Charles LeDray VIP Reception

Your membership value just got even better!

Thanks to the generosity of fanpierboston.com, we are now able to offer ICA members discounted parking on weekends and Monday holidays!

Receive $2 off the price of parking at the Fan Pier lot on Northern Avenue (directly in front of the ICA). Just present your valid membership card to the attendant on your way in to receive your discount.

It’s still as easy as ever to get to the ICA using public transportation. See our map and directions on page P12. We’re just minutes from the Silver Line Waterfront, or you can take a stroll along the water from South Station during the summer months.

Advocate, Director's Circle, Ars Longa and Founders’ Circle members Tuesday, July 13, 6:30 - 9:30 pm Members-Only Opening

Individual, Dual, Family, Associate, Friend and Patron level members Saturday, July 17, 6 - 9 pm Member Preview Hours

All ICA Members Wednesday, July 14, 10 am - 5 pm Thursday, July 15, 10 am - 9 pm Present your membership card at the Holly McGrath Visitor Center The 2010 James and Audrey Foster Prize VIP Reception

Advocate, Director’s Circle, Ars Longa and Founders’ Circle members Tuesday, September 21, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Member Appreciation Night

Associate, Friend, Patron and Advocate level members Tuesday, October 19, 5:30 - 8:30 pm

11·support

We couldn’t do it without you

Target’s Support of Free Thursday Nights Expands Access for All You might see a multi-ton stainless steel sculpture, or you might see a model of the solar system less than two inches tall. You might hear Latin rhythms coming from outside, or it could be a jazz quartet. But if you’re visiting the ICA on a Target Free Thursday Night, you can be sure of one thing—you’ll find it buzzing with families, teens, and adults engaging with contemporary culture and enjoying Boston Harbor.

“Bringing today’s art to the broadest possible audience and sharing the power of creativity are central to what we do and crucial for a healthy community,” says Deputy Director Paul Bessire. “Target’s sponsorship is absolutely critical to this endeavor. Free Thursday Nights help us reach people of more diverse ages and backgrounds—young people, students, families looking for affordable things to do together, and people from different neighborhoods around Boston.”

Target’s sponsorship of free admission and popular Thursday night programming such as HarborWalk Sounds, Words from the Walk, and free public tours have made the ICA one of the city’s most dynamic cultural institutions and brought incredible energy to the waterfront neighborhood.

And with more than 73,000 people visiting for free last year through Target Free Thursday Nights, Play Dates, and Free Admission for Youth, the ICA continues share the pleasures of today’s culture regardless of economic conditions.

“Target is proud to be a corporate supporter of the ICA with the Target Free Thursday program,” says Jim Hogan, Group Vice President Stores. “We have enjoyed having this partnership and providing free access to the ICA for all Boston area residents and their families since 2007. Target strongly believes that this ICA program is tremendously important in our efforts to support youth education, family engagement, and access for all to one of Boston’s most prolific cultural institutions.”

Since 1946, Target has given 5% of its income to the communities it serves. 2,200 free events and reduced-price performances are sponsored by Target each year, at more than 100 museums and cultural organizations across the country.

The Director’s Circle: Creativity, Leadership, and Innovation

Did you know that Director’s Circle gifts account for more than 25% of the ICA’s annual operating budget? Compelling exhibitions and performance, innovative family and teen programs, cultural and civic leadership—none of this would be possible without the support of this dynamic and committed group.

Join or upgrade your membership by June 1 to receive an exclusive invitation to one of our most popular events of the year: our Spring Private Collection Visit. New Director’s Circle members will also be included in the VIP Opening Reception for Charles LeDray in July and specially-designed travel opportunities, receive complimentary tickets to ICA-produced public programs and performances, and so much more.

Join our most loyal supporters and generous leaders in helping the ICA pursue its bold vision for Boston. For more information about Director’s Circle membership, please call Allie Nikolaisen, Director’s Circle Manager, at 617-4783183 or e-mail anikolaisen@icaboston.org

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

12·Interview Meet the Curator

This spring, the ICA welcomed Helen Molesworth as the museum’s new Chief Curator. Taylor Davis, a Boston-based sculptor, ICA Collection artist, and past recipient of the Artist Prize, sat down with Molesworth recently to discuss the curator’s relationships with artists, objects, and institutions and how love fits into it all.

Here is an excerpt from their conversation.

Taylor Davis: I was looking at curate and curate came up, the archaic definition of a minister with pastoral responsibility. I was surprised, because the stereotypes—a soft-handed, rosy cheeked Anglican biking from cottage to cottage in some BBC version of the English countryside and the slim-hipped, couture-wearing tastemaker jetting from one urban hotspot to another—couldn’t be farther apart.

Then I started thinking about artists you’ve worked with (Sharon Hayes, William Pope.L, Moyra Davey, Felix GonzalezTorres) and exhibitions you’ve created so far (Work Ethic, ACT UP New York: Activism, Art, and the AIDS Crisis, 1987-1993, Part Object Part Sculpture), and the perceived distance between responsibility to a community and curating contemporary art collapsed. I like this collapse very much. My questions come from thinking about possible similarities between what seem to be two very different cultural leaders. So, my first question is: where does love fit in?

I could have talked about love in my work then, because it took me a long time to realize that criticism is a form of love. To be critical of a thing in the hard sense, to articulate what it is doing or not doing that is problematic, means that you hold in your head a standard of the good, whatever the value is—the good, the socially conscious, the pure, the beautiful. The criticism is borne of love, because you have expectations or desires that are not being met.

TD: From my outside view of you and listening to you talk with

visiting artists, it felt like you were really with the artist in the room. You were not taking some hierarchical position of “the great presenter.” Also, in your conversations with them there was wonder and discovery, and I’m just bringing that up because it seems related to what we’re talking about.

HM: That’s really nice to hear. That is part of it for me.

I think one of the things that a curator does, or that I try and do in my work, and that I hope I can make available for the audience, is to take the opportunity to be with someone for a while, to actually think alongside someone else. Not to think like them, because that implies that you can think like them, but rather stand next to them to try and see them or understand them, and all of that, for me, goes back to love.

TD: It feels like you have chosen artists who

Helen Molesworth: Well, I do think that love is some-

thing that I have been increasingly conscious of as a force, a motivation, or a stake in my work. I fall in love with art objects and am someone who gets really moved by them. I have lots of memories of really loving certain things, like being at MoMA as a high school student, coming across Giacometti’s Woman with Her Throat Cut and just tumbling over myself in my head about that thing. The tapestry room at the Met, the Temple of Dendur—there was this incredible outpouring of love.

Then, because my post-college and graduate school training happened in the late 80s and 90s, during the heyday of what we now call critical theory, a lot of the force of that love came through criticism. I got angry at a lot of art objects and really cut my teeth on them. The ones I didn’t like agitated me as much as the ones I immediately fell in love with. I don’t think

confounded you at first. You’ll say, “I actually can’t believe that I’m standing here right now saying I love this painting, because I didn’t know how to get my mind around it at first.” It seems to me that this is one of the qualities that allow you to open up art for other people as well.

HM: I remember—I think it must have been

1988—seeing a show of Robert Gober’s plaster sinks in a gallery and being incensed.

Furious, you know? What a rip-off! Duchamp! But it was through the process of understanding my own antipathy to those objects that I came to find them as extraordinary and as moving as I do. I learned to trust the power of a negative reaction as much as a positive one and

I try to take the opportunity to be with someone for a while, to actually think alongside someone else. that anything that can get you that riled had aimed itself at not only the intellectual arena but also at the psychic one. I try to keep myself open and available to that and not use being upset as a way to be dismissive of the work.

TD: My second question is: where does service fit in?

HM: I think service to the institution is something that has

gotten really lost. The more that the role of the curator has become impresario-like, star-like, or artist-like, a discourse about how we serve our institutions has really diminished. I’m talking about what we do in a daily way that goes toward making the museum we work in a more hospitable place to work, a more hospitable place to view art, and a more hospitable place for the production, distribution, and reception of culture. That’s not only making a great show, that’s actually developing a good system for writing art labels, picking up a piece of trash on the gallery floor, or approaching all of the mundane stuff with the kind of creative energy and joy that you bring to your own work.

TD: How do you look for something when you don’t

know what you’re looking for?

HM: I think that’s a poetic and nice way of asking the

hard question: how do you end up making the choices to show what you show? I’ve certainly shown work that I didn’t necessarily personally like, but I thought was good for the institution. The work itself had a kind of integrity that I could get behind even if I couldn’t get behind the work’s implications for me personally.

TD: If you look at the question from another angle, it also has to do with how you’re alone and you want to fall in love.

HM: Yes, that’s a terrible way of saying it, but it’s

true. When I’m at the art fair, the biennial, or the museum, I am alone and I want to fall in love.

Photo: John Kennard

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

14·looking forward Nine to know

2010 James and Audrey Foster Prize

September 22, 2010 – January 17, 2011 From large-scale photographs of the Peruvian Amazon to experimental film to installations inspired by Turkish rugs in 16th-century European paintings, the artists selected for the 2010 Foster Prize offer a wide-ranging view of the art being created in the Boston area today. Showcasing and celebrating work in our community has been an integral aspect of the ICA’s exhibition program since the prize’s inception in 1999.

This year the biennial award show takes a new, expanded format, featuring work by nine artists: Robert de Saint Phalle, Eirik Johnson, Fred Liang, Rebecca Meyers, Matthew Rich, Daniela Rivera, Evelyn Rydz, Amie Siegel, and Steve Tourlentes. The exhibition, which includes sculpture, installation, film, video, painting, drawing, and photography, culminates in the selection of the Foster Prize recipient in January 2011.

Visit our website to see more images from the 2010 Foster Prize finalists.

15·collection Here to stay

New Acquisitions

Mark Bradford: You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)

November 19, 2010 – March 13, 2011 Through his collaged paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations, Mark Bradford explores issues of class, race, and gender in American urban society. An archeologist of his own environment, Los Angeles, Bradford uses found materials—peeling movie posters, hand-lettered “FOR SALE” signs, endpapers used to perm black hair, salvaged plywood—which he layers, embellishes, erodes, and reconstitutes into abstract compositions. Presenting work from 1997 to 2010 in all media, Mark Bradford: You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You) demonstrates the artist’s ability to blend social concerns and pure abstraction, communicating complex issues beyond words. This is the first survey exhibition for Bradford, whose work was previously shown at the ICA in 2008’s Street Level.

The exhibition is organized by Christopher Bedford, Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University.

OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Matthew Rich,

Combination, 2009. Courtesy of the artist and samson; Eirik Johnson, Early Morning Rain Breaks in Palm Grove, Blanquillo, 13.20 minutes exposure, 2008-2009; Rebecca Meyers, still from Lions and tigers and bears, 2006. Daniela Rivera, Tilted Room or 800 pounds of oil on canvas, stretcher bars and clamps, 2005-2009. THIS PAGE, LEFT : Mark Bradford, Potable Water (detail), 2005. Collection of Hunter Gray and Lisa Ivorian Gray. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. RIGHT : Dr. Lakra, Sin título / Untitled (X8 Controla), 2005. The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.

Promised gift of Beth and Richard Marcus.

Dr. Lakra’s work explores the paradoxical way that tattoos both identify one’s belonging to a group and express a person’s individuality. The artist turns his skills as a draftsman to works on paper and found objects, transforming them with a galaxy of macabre and gothic imagery. In Sin título / Untitled (X8 Controla) (2005) Dr. Lakra presents a stoic, clean-shaven man surrounded by ominous images of mortality and script from notorious inner-city gangs. This new acquisition, a promised gift of Beth and Richard Marcus, is currently on view in the Dr. Lakra exhibition through September 6.

Momentum 15 artist R.H. Quaytman’s work is recognized for its optical patterns, glittering surfaces, and attention to the context in which it is viewed. Her signature work, Exhibition Guide, Chapter 15 (white diamond dust arrow pattern) (2009), a promised gift of ICA Trustee James Foster and Audrey Foster, is a jewel-like addition to the ICA’s collection, with its surface covered in diamond dust.

A new work by Damián Ortega, a gift of ICA Trustee Mark and Marie Schwartz, also adds to the ICA’s burgeoning permanent collection. In Olympus (2009) Ortega disassembles an Olympus 35-mm camera, then suspends its parts in a series of parallel plastic sheets, evoking slides under a microscope. The Olympus is an analog camera, a relic in our digital age. The work exemplifies Ortega’s interest in how things work, his playful exploration of mechanisms and systems from biology to politics, and his focus on the relationships of individual parts to the whole.

A new installation of the ICA Collection opens on August 4.

NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2010

16·picks

What the pros crave

We asked some of Boston’s best chefs: what’s your culinary guilty pleasure?

Barbara Lynch

No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, B&G Oyster, Drink, Sportello, and Menton I absolutely love foie gras; the melt-in-your-mouth richness is decadent and delicious. It’s not something I have too often, so it’s definitely an indulgence. When I’m craving a splurge, this is what I go for, but I don’t limit the enjoyment of this to fancy dinners. Every St. Patrick’s Day I go to my cousin’s house in Southie to the watch the parade with family and friends, and I serve seared foie gras…it’s become somewhat of a tradition among the chips and dip and beer!

Tony Maws

Craigie on Main I love a whole-roasted chicken almost as much as I love Pearl hotdogs. While I feel no guilt whatsoever about eating a hot dog, I often do eating a chicken. Why? I’m the guy that carves the beautiful bird and steals a bunch of the crispy skin before anyone else can get their hands near it. It’s not right, which is why I feel guilty, but I do it anyway. I apologize to my future dinner guests in advance!

Barry Maiden

Hungry Mother I definitely have a weak spot for pizza. But not just any ordinary, run-of-the-mill pie. It has to have some basic elements and quality toppings. No canned mushrooms—are you kidding me? Thin crust, but not too thin. Crispy, but not shattering. Warm, but not too hot, this way the cheese has time to set up just right—you all know what I mean! As for toppings, pepperoni, fried eggplant, and hot peppers are best. If I make the pies myself, bacon, ricotta, and caramelized onion can’t be touched. My favorite pizza joints include Armando’s in Cambridge, Santarpios in Eastie, and Pisa Pizza in Malden. …or…cold pizza for breakfast!

Jamie Bissonnette

Toro, Coppa My guilty pleasure is 100% sitting at Charlie’s Kitchen in Harvard Square, pumping money into the punk rock jukebox, drinking a few Miller High Lifes, and eating the best burger ever: double jalapeno cheeseburger with beer fries.

New

the magazine of the Institute of contemporary art/boston Director of Marketing and Communications

Donna Desrochers Editor

Brigham Fay Communications Manager, Creative Services and the Web art director

José Nieto Senior Designer Design

José Nieto George Graves

Image by Chloë Wojewoda Find us on Flickr to share your ICA photos.

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Tattoo You Want to bring a little edge to your style? From vintage ink to Japanese motifs, the ICA Store has designs on your look.

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Let Paul Timman, tattoo artist to the stars, bring his talent to your table.

Pieces sold separately, $15 - 30 ($13.50 - $27 members)

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Wear a Dr. Lakra signature you won’t be afraid to show your mom. $28 ($25.20 members)

A statement without the commitment. Inspired

by Brazilian beach culture, Batucada creates “eco-plastic” jewelry that hugs the skin. $45 ($40.50 members)

Domestic, with a dash of danger, from Sin in Linen. $8 each ($7.20 members)

Shop anytime at www.icastore.org Proceeds from the ICA Store are used to support the museum’s programs.