summer 2009 Acting Out / Eileen Quinlan / Harborwalk Sounds / Tour Guide Picks members go green
new
the magazine of the inst it ut e o f c o nt e mpo r a ry a r t /b oston
from the director Question everything
CONTENTS 2 On View 0 06 Collection Programs 07 Support 08 Membership 10 Looking Forward 12 Picks 13 Credits; Go Green Back Cover: ICA Store
Dear Members and Friends, “Acting Out” is the title of the first exhibition in our new building to examine developments in video, but it could easily describe the sense of engagement shared by all of the artists we present in our galleries and on our stage. Their ability to provoke, to question, to turn a notion on its head is a large part of the reason we think it’s important to share them with you. Shepard Fairey is a prime example of an engaged artist. His art, exhibition, and the issues of public space and fair use that his work provokes have sparked an important dialogue about art and its role in society. The response to his exhibition at the ICA bears this out. Fairey’s work prompted several passionate e-mails and phone calls—both supportive and critical. Many of you, our members, weighed in: “We think that he has hit upon a fundamental mystery of our culture, i.e. why we stop and look at messages sent our way.” “It questions the way I see the world around me.” “I like his work too, but if he doesn’t get permission to put it up, it’s called defacing private property.” “The exhibit is marvelous, as has been Mr. Fairey’s dialogue with this city.” To begin the conversation, contribute to it, and identify and support voices who can ignite such passion—this is the job of our civic institutions, and we are proud to be such a forum for Boston. Author Michael Chabon, called upon to describe the critical importance of the arts at this moment in our nation’s history, wrote about the moral obligation to question: America’s artists are the guardians of the spirit of questioning, of innovation, of reaching across the barriers that fence us off from our neighbors, from our allies and adversaries, from the six billion other people with whom we share this dark and dazzling world…Our artists need freedom to pursue the solitary investigations into which their art inevitably leads them. We plan to celebrate that spirit all summer long, and we hope you’ll join us for a new season of programming that combines the best of contemporary culture and Boston’s waterfront. You’ll notice that this summer’s program calendar has been incorporated into New—we’re reducing the number of paper mailings we send while keeping you up to date with all our events via e-mail. For more information on how you can make your membership greener, see pg. 13.
Jill Medvedow, Director
Jill Medvedow photo: Mitch Epstein
Cover : Production Still. Part of Creative Time’s Six Actions for New York City, 2007. Photo: Sam Horine. Courtesy Creative Time. this page : video still, Javier TÊllez, Letter on the Blind, For the Use of Those Who See, 2007. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich.
02路ON VIEW
Unscripted and unbound
From left to right, 1st column: Yael Bartana, stills from Wild Seeds, 2005. Courtesy of the artist and Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam; 2nd column : Johanna Billing, stills from Magical World, 2005.Courtesy Kavi Gupta Gallery Chicago; 3rd column : Phil Collins, stills from he who laughs last laughs longest, 2006. Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; 4th column : Javier T茅llez, stills from Letter on the Blind, For the Use of Those Who See, 2007. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Comissioned by Creative time as part of Six Actions for New York City, Co-produced by Galerie Peter Kilchmann; 5th column : Artur Zmijewski, stills from THEM (SIE), 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Peter Kilchmann, Zurich
Acting Out: Social Experiments in Video Through October 18, 2009
Contestants compete in a laughing contest. A group of Israeli teens plays a physical game. Croatian children sing an American song. Six blind New Yorkers experience a live elephant. Social activist groups confront each other’s symbols of belief. The five contemporary artists in Acting Out invite real people— non-actors—to be taped participating in these varied activities. The exhibition introduces a new generation of artists exploring the expressive potential of
social experiment, where the impromptu actions of ordinary people are captured to surprisingly powerful effect. In Wild Seeds (2005), Yael Bartana records Israeli teens in a game, first playful, then unsettling, in which “police” pull “settlers” from a clinging group. The escalating hostility of action and dialogue—translated into English on a separate screen—echoes the conflicted sentiments in the Occupied Territories. Johanna Billing’s Magical World (2005) presents Croatian children rehearsing the English lyrics of this American song. The fragile melancholy
and optimism in the song, coupled with the children’s struggle with a new language, evoke their country’s efforts to adopt Western ideals. Phil Collins’s he who laughs last laughs longest (2006) highlights the hysteria of televised competition. In a contest to see who can laugh longest, set in the small Scottish town where the inventor of television was born, laughter is transformed from a natural and personal expression of release into an exhausting, defeating performance. In Letter on the Blind, For the Use of Those Who See (2007), Javier Téllez invites a group of blind people to touch and share their perceptions of a live elephant. Inspired by the Indian parable “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” Tellez updates the ancient narrative’s lesson that every being experiences the same thing in a unique way. Artur mijewski organizes a workshop in which social groups create and desecrate each other’s symbols of belief. THEM (SIE) (2007) presents nationalist Polish youth, conservative Catholics, Jewish activists, and leftist socialists, who aggressively negotiate, fight, or ultimately withdraw from the exchange in ways that echo the successes and failures of diplomacy. Since video’s rise in the late 1960s, the ICA has had a history of marking emergent trends in the medium. The first exhibition in the new building to focus on video, Acting Out offers a timely engagement with how actions by real people can carry meaning and communicate values. By letting unscripted action unfold, these works highlight the forces of isolation, connection, and friction that shape our lives today.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2009
“I’m interested in what people expect from a photograph— what they expect to be looking at or what they think a photograph is or should be.” – Eileen Quinlan
MOMENTUM 13: Eileen Quinlan: My eyes can only look at you Through July 12, 2009 The photograph has often been described as a transparent window into a frozen moment. For Eileen Quinlan it is not a window but a mirror—reflecting our tendency to see even constructed images as truth when delivered by the camera. Fascinated by this “false transparency,” as she calls it, Quinlan explores her medium’s capacity to be both record of physical fact and deceptive illusion. Employing analog techniques in an era of digital manipulation, Quinlan creates kaleidoscopic or atmospheric abstract images using the standard tricks of commercial film photography. With color gels and flash on close-up shots of backdrops like mirrors, Mylar and fabric, she achieves an infinite range of prismatic compositions. Almost like product photography without the product, her evocatively titled images—like Night Flight, Bandit, and Fracas—invite a spectrum of associations, from lipstick ads and album covers to screensaver patterns and modernist painting. For her first solo museum exhibition, the artist presents a series of new prints that extend this exploration of how photography can “make strange” even ordinary furnishings meant to fade into the background. The Momentum series presents a focused look at artists whose works mark emerging currents in contemporary artistic practice in the U.S. and around the world.
Four New Ways to Obey 1) On Foot
You haven’t experienced Shepard Fairey until you’ve seen his street works—an integral part of his artistic practice. Did you know that there are outdoor works all over Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville? Check out a map at www.icaboston.org. 2) On Two Wheels
You bring your bike and helmet, we’ll provide the curator. Pedro Alonzo leads a tour of six of Fairey’s outdoor works on June 28. See p. P4
The Momentum series is sponsored by AKRIS.
3) In the Dark
Additional support is provided by the International Council of the Institute of Contemporary Art.
A darkened theater, that is. A new film series explores street art, hip-hop, and urban culture. Go back to where “Obey” began with John Carpenter’s cult film They Live. See p. P6
To complement her Momentum exhibition, the ICA has invited Eileen Quinlan to create a new screensaver for the computers in the Poss Family Mediatheque. Learn more about Eileen Quinlan’s work with the ICA’s FREE audio commentary. Borrow an iPod from the admissions desk, access on your cell phone at 617-231-4055, or download from www.icaboston.org/gofurther.
4) Shuffle Songs
Shepard Fairey created his ideal playlist for the ICA. Now additional “mixtapers” get in on the fun. See what musicians from Mission of Burma and Interpol are listening to on our free iPods.ue. Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand is on view through August 16, 2009.
Also on View
Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand is sponsored by Levi Strauss & Co.
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Ugo Rondinone Through November 1, 2009
Additional support is provided by Hal and Jodi Hess, Patricia La Valley and Geoff Hargadon, and Timothy Phillips.
ICA Collection: Portrait of a Museum Through July 12, 2009
Media Sponsor
Eileen Quinlan, clockwise from top: Night Flight #6 (detail), 2008; Fracas #4 (for A.R.) (detail), 2009; and, Red Goya (detail), 2007
Shepard Fairey, Duality of Humanity 2, mural at International Bike Center, Allston, 2008. Photo: drew Katz
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2009
06·COLLECTION
The mother of all acquisitions
ICA Adds New Nan Goldin to Growing Collection of Contemporary Photography Through the generosity of Sandra Fineberg and ICA Trustee Gerald Fineberg, the ICA has acquired its eighth work by artist Nan Goldin. Their gift enables the ICA to continue building its collection of works by today’s influential photographers, including Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Rineke Dijkstra, Roe Ethridge, Noriko Furunishi, and Boris Mikhailov. From Here to Maternity explores the archetypal mother and child relationship in an assemblage of 24 photographs taken between 1986 and 2000. These tender and striking images of parenthood show familiar yet poignant activities: women breastfeeding, bathing, and changing diapers. The dense arrangement is an unusual format for
Goldin, who tends to display her photographic prints as single images, but the subject is emblematic of the artist’s oeuvre. Goldin has been taking snapshot-like photographs of intimate moments for over 30 years, creating a thorough documentation of the highs and lows of contemporary life. Most of her subjects are close friends and family members, who appear unabashed and comfortable in front of Goldin’s omnipresent camera lens. From Here to Maternity will be on view in the fourth presentation of the ICA Collection, opening July 29.
Nan Goldin, From Here to Maternity, 1986-2000. Gift of Sandra and Gerald Fineberg. © Nan Goldin. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
programs
T H E I N S T I T U T E O F C O N T E M P O R A RY A R T/ B O S T O N summer 2009
Performing Arts p2 / Experiment p3 / Talks & Tours p4 / Film p6 / Families p8 / Teens p9 Calendar p10 / How To Buy Tickets p10 / General Information p12
performing arts
Step Outside
ICA Expands Partnership with World Music/ CRASHarts Since we opened on the waterfront in 2006, some of the most exciting contemporary dance has taken place at the ICA through an ongoing partnership with World Music/CRASHarts. The ICA is pleased to extend our partnership to include artists in indie rock, jazz, and electronica, as well as musicians who explore the boundaries of traditional world music.
HarborWalk Sounds
Thursdays, July 9 - August 27 The ICA is the place to be all summer long. Grab a drink from the Water Café, enjoy the harbor breeze and, on Target Free Thursday nights in July and August, listen to great music. Best of all—it’s all free!
Berklee College of Music at the ICA
In what is fast becoming a Boston summer tradition, Berklee returns with some of their best bands featuring alumni, students, and faculty. July 9: Neara Russell July 16: Tubby Love
Wavelengths
Presented in partnership with World Music/ CRASHarts Fridays, August 7 – 28, 7:30 pm
July 23: La Timbistica July 30: Alex Wintz HarborWalk Shuffle
Immerse yourself in sounds by the most exciting indie, electronic, and global acts emerging today. Each concert will feature artists performing outside against the backdrop of Boston Harbor. Please note: music programming works on a shorter timeframe than our publications, so please be sure and check www. icaboston.org regularly as new programs are announced.
August 6, 13, 20 and 27 Try something new this August. Come check out musiciansubmitted playlists and preview new album releases. We’ll even make time to include your playlists if you bring your iPod. Admission is free. Seating is limited and available on a firstcome, first-served basis. Log onto www.icaboston.org for upcoming details about these events.
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experiment Super Secret Summer Surprise Friday, June 12, 8 pm – 12 am
The Disappearing Woman A collaboration between Nell Breyer, Alissa Cardone, Lorraine Chapman, and Bronwen MacArthur World Premiere Commissioned and developed by Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy Saturday, July 11, 7:30 pm This world premiere multimedia dance work addresses the anxieties of three women in an increasingly dispersed, high-speed culture. For choreographer/ media artist Breyer, and dancers/choreographers Cardone, Chapman, and MacArthur, digital media serves as an enveloping, inescapable extension of the body itself. These leaders in the New England dance community explore the crossover between each individual’s movement language, media, and aesthetics The artistic exchange between the artists began during a New England Foundation for the Arts regional Dance Development Initiative and was developed over the past year during residencies at Summer Stages Dance, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Vermont Performance Lab/Marlboro College. The Disappearing Woman is the third work created and presented as part of an ongoing partnership between Summer Stages Dance and the ICA, following site-specific works by choreographers Stephan Koplowitz and Sara Rudner. Tickets: $25 reserved seating; $15 members, students, and seniors
Remember those mornings, as a kid, when you woke up, ran downstairs, and flipped on cartoons? Or played Twister in the basement with your friends after school? You know how you practiced hot dance moves in the mirror? Well, summer’s here, and it’s time to recapture your youth at Boston’s only art museum dance party. It’s the first-ever outdoor Experiment, and we’ve got it all: cartoons curated by Hooliganship, a giant game of Twister, multimedia artists the Video Hippos, Master of Ceremonies Jimmy Joe Roche, Wham City’s “Ultimate Reality,” and a surprise guest who’ll get you to dust off those old moves. Trust us, you’re going to want to save your allowance. Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 members and students with valid ID. 21+ Sponsored by
Cover: Helen Stickler, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator; above left: Swami Lateplate with Bobby Previte and Jamie Saft; right: The Disappearing Woman. Photo: George Lange Photography
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs Summer 2009
talks & tours A Feast for the Senses
Author Talk: Alain de Botton
Sunday, June 7, 2:30 pm
Continuing his pursuit of distilling the extraordinary, new, and confounding in the world around us, Alain de Botton focuses in his latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009), on the routines, practice, and processes that we spend most of our time pursuing. Looking at the subject through the prism of 12 people at work—ranging from making biscuits to rocket scientists to accountants— de Botton reveals the diversity and distinctiveness of what we do with curiosity, zeal, and eloquence. Author of the well known How Proust can Change your Life (1998), The Art of Travel (2003), Status Anxiety (2005) and The Architecture of Happiness (2006), de Botton is currently working on the launch of a “mini” university in London called The School of Life. De Botton will sign copies of his new book after the program. Tickets: $12 general admission; $8 members, students, and seniors Sunday, June 28, 10 am
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Bike Tour: Shepard Fairey Off Site
Join the ICA for a bike tour of Fairey’s public work in Boston and Cambridge. Stopping at six places along the way, exhibition curator Pedro Alonzo will talk about the context, content, and culture of the artist’s work and the relationships between graffiti, public art, graphic design, and advertising. The tour will cover approximately 10 miles, arriving back at the ICA in time to hit the Water Café for lunch. Tickets: $20 general admission; $15 members, students, and seniors. Space is limited. The tour will last approximately 2 hours, traveling on Boston and Cambridge streets with moderate to heavy traffic. This route is appropriate for intermediate cyclists and above, already familiar with city biking. All participants MUST bring a safe, working bicycle, a well-fitted helmet, and water. Maps will be available to participants, with clear directions to each site. The tour will run in light rain,
but not in more severe weather conditions. In case of severe weather, call 617-478-3100 on the day of the event for cancellations. Lunch is not included with the price of the tour. All participants will be required to sign a waiver. Free Public Tours
Each week, the ICA offers six docentled tours free with museum admission. Tours leave from the lobby. Target Free Thursday Nights 6 and 7 pm Saturdays and Sundays 1 and 2:30 pm ICA interpretative programs and materials are made possible by the significant support of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund.
Talking Taste
Deidre Heekin and Caleb Barber
Friday, July 24, 6:30 pm Last year’s popular program is back—experience the flavors of Boston’s best chefs against the backdrop of Boston Harbor. Fridays, June 26, July 17, 24, and 31, 6:30 pm Free with museum admission. Space is limited. Free tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis at the admissions desk one hour before the program. Ana Sortun
Colin Lynch and John Gertsner
Friday, June 26, 6:30 pm
Taste cocktails and canapes from Barbara Lynch Gruppo Friday, July 17, 6:30 pm
Owners of Pane e Salute in Woodstock, Vermont, Heekin and Barber have developed a stylish, classic Italian tavern, inspired by and celebrating the regional variations of Italy. Using local ingredients, they present surprising, marvelous, and essential dishes full of the spirit of Italy and the bounty of each season.
Frank McClelland
Owner of Oleana and Sofra (with Maura Kilpatrick), Ana Sortun has been described as one of the country’s “best creative fusion practitioners.” Combining farm-fresh, organic ingredients from Siena farms, and eastern Mediterranean spice blends, Sortun allows the flavors of regional food, and her tangible love for it, to determine her cooking.
Colin Lynch began his culinary career at No. 9 Park, named one of the “hottest restaurants in the world” by Food & Wine and one of Gourmet’s “top 50 restaurants” in 2006. Now executive chef for Barbara Lynch Gruppo, Lynch works directly with chef Barbara Lynch, overseeing new concepts such as Drink and Sportello. Regarded as one of Boston’s most talented bartenders, Drink bar manager John Gertsen is recognized locally and nationally as an expert on the history of cocktails. For several years he served as an integral part of the No.9 Park bar program before collaborating with Chef Lynch on the opening of Drink.
Friday, July 31, 6:30 pm Frank McClelland is the proprietor of two of Boston’s most highly acclaimed restaurants, L’Espalier and Sel de la Terre, both featuring cuisine that combines regional ingredients with the culinary traditions of France. L’Espalier has been named #1 in Boston’s Zagat Survey for nine years running, and has been awarded Five Diamonds from AAA for eight years in a row. McClelland was named Best Chef: Northeast 2007 by the prestigious James Beard Foundation. Talking Taste is sponsored by
Above, left to right: Alain de Botton, photo: Roderick Field; Shepard Fairey, Duality of Humanity 2, mural at International Bike Center, Allston, 2008. Photo: Drew Katz; Ana Sortun, photo: Kristin Chalmers; Colin Lynch, photo: www.justinide.com
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs Summer 2009
Film
Skaters, Scratchers and Aliens…
Immerse yourself in Shepard Fairey’s world with a series of films that explore street art, hiphop, and urban culture, plus John Carpenter’s cult film They Live, cited by the artist as one of his major influences. Each screening: $9 general admission; $7 members, students, and seniors
Bomb It
They Live
by Jon Reiss (documentary, 2007, 93 min, digibeta) Boston Premiere Saturday, August 1, 1:30 pm Sunday, August 2, 1:30 pm
by John Carpenter (sci-fi, 1988, 35 mm) Saturday, August 1, 4 pm Sunday, August 2, 4 pm
Take a wild ride into the heart of graffiti culture, where the love for art and ego clash explosively with law and order. On top of a raging soundtrack of punk, hip-hop, and funk, this high-octane film explores the many manifestations of “bombing.” In raw interviews, pioneers of bombing and underground and well-recognized artists from New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Barcelona, Cape Town, Sao Paolo, and Paris demonstrate why they risk arrest and injury to express themselves in spray paint and marker.
P6
John Carpenter is a legendary American director known for films full of visceral excitement and rich cinematic texture. His 1988 film They Live has become a cult favorite—a mixture of low-budget sci-fi, drama, and action warning of the perils of Corporate America. Exploring the dark side of American culture of the 80s and its obsession with mass communication and consumerism, They Live was part of the inspiration for Shepard Fairey’s “Obey” campaign.
Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
by Helen Stickler (documentary, 2002, 82 min, 35 mm) Saturday, August 8, 1:30 pm Sunday, August 9, 1:30 pm Helen Stickler’s brilliantly constructed documentary charts the rise of skateboarding culture in the 1980s, using the life of the era’s most celebrated skater, Mark “Gator” Rogowski, as a focal point. Stickler assembled a superstar cast including Peralta, Tony Hawk, and Jason Jesse to tell Gator’s story. A mix of jaw-dropping skateboarding footage, ‘80s nostalgia, music, and interviews re-creates the era with great energy and feeling, while presenting an intimate character study of fame gone sour.
Scratch
by Doug Pray (music documentary, 2000, 92 min, 35mm) Saturday, August 8, 4 pm Sunday, August 9, 4 pm This electrifying documentary is a tribute to the innovative art of DJing, featuring legendary figures DJ Shadow, Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys), Afrika Bambaataa, and Jazzy Jay, among others. A deeply insightful historical document and a highly entertaining glimpse into the world of underground hip-hop, the film features “the world’s best scratchers, beat-diggers, party-rockers, and producers wax[ing] poetic on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl.”
Celebrate World Environmental Day at the ICA HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (produced by Elzevir Film and Europacorp, 2009, 93 min, digibeta) Friday, June 5, 8:30 pm World Premiere See our world in a whole new light. Presented as part of World Environmental Day, HOME will premiere simultaneously throughout the world on June 5. Kick off summer and be a part of this global event. Yann Arthus-Bertrand, an internationally recognized photographer and writer, takes us on a fascinating and original journey all around the planet. Narrated by Glenn Close, the film is a travel notebook, comprised of mesmerizing shots of landscapes, water currents, and roads, captured from above. HOME invites us to stop for a moment in order to look at our planet and realize how we treat its treasures and beauty. Special thanks to the French Cultural Service, Boston. Tickets: $9 general admission; $7 members, students, and seniors
Above, left to right: John Carpenter, They Live, film still, 1988; Doug Pray Scratch, still from video, 2000; Centrale solaire thermoélectrique de Sanlúcar la Mayor, près de Séville, Andalousie, Espagne (37°26’N - 6°15’O) © Yann Arthus-Bertrand / Film “HOME” - a coproduction ELZEVIR FILMS / EUROPACORP / PPR is proud to support HOME
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs Summer 2009
Families
Go Outside and Play
Boston’s Rainbow Tribe and B Side artists will show their urban dance moves on the HarborWalk (weather-permitting) and invite you to perform, too!
Your Body in Art
Saturday, July 25, 10 am – 4 pm Perform alongside Bessie Award-winner Germaul Barnes and Guggenheim Fellow Gabri Christa as they team up to create a multimedia procession inside and outside the ICA (weather permitting) including dance, video projections, and songs from around the world. Take a family tour of the ICA’s collection, spend some time creating an art installation in the Bank of America Art Lab, or enjoy drawing dancers, visitors, or the view of Boston Harbor from the Grandstand.
Play Dates
By the Sea
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. Space is limited, and free tickets may be required for selected theater events; these will be available first-come, firstserved 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.
Come enjoy the day seaside at the ICA! Visit the galleries and take part in the ICA Collection Gallery Quest. Listen to live music along the HarborWalk, and try your hand at making prints inspired by the ocean in the Bank of America Art Lab. Sketching materials will be available for families throughout the day.
Obey Giant
Saturday, August 29, 10 am – 4 pm
Play Dates are sponsored by
Activities in the Bank of America Art Lab are made possible by
Saturday, June 27, 10 am – 4 pm Take a look at work by Shepard Fairey in the ICA galleries, then head to the Bank of America Art Lab to work with Boston artist Raul Gonzales. Create posters with your own messages and use stencils in combination with drawing and found images to create a mural. Find out how to enter the ICA’s summer poster-making contest for kids, and get tips on how to make posters that impress. Want more action?
P8
Generous support of ICA Youth Education is provided by JP Morgan Chase Foundation, the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, and the Fuller Foundation. Above left: Play Date, photo: Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone; right: Summer Video Bootcamp.
Teens
See it. Do it. Bring Your Friends.
Artist Encounter for Teens: Mario Ybarra, Jr. and Karla Diaz
Tuesday, July 14 – Friday, July 17, 10:30 am – 4:30 pm Teens will tour Boston Harbor with two artists from Los Angeles, Mario Ybarra, Jr. and Karla Diaz, bringing the energy of their West Coast artist collective Slanguage. After peer-led tours of historical Boston and the Freedom Trail, teen participants will use digital cameras, sketchbooks, and sound and video recorders to trace personal and historical narratives. A resulting collaborative installation will be on public view through July 29 in the Bank of America Art Lab. Free for BPS students; required lab fee of $10 for materials Register online at www.icateens.org. Significant support for this project is provided by the Nimoy Foundation.
Summer Video Boot Camp
Tuesday, August 4 – Friday, August 7, 12 – 5 pm Ever wanted to be a video artist or filmmaker? Join Video Boot Camp, an intensive video, audio, and new media art program at the ICA. Participants meet daily, creating independent new media work for critique, presentation, and distribution. Students will visit the ICA galleries to view the current exhibition, Acting Out: Social Experiments in Video. The artists in the show will provide inspiration for discussion, ultimately influencing the work of the participants. If you have dreams of being a filmmaker or new media artist, this is the program for you. This program can be used as a pre-requisite for Fast Forward. Fee: $300; $250 members; free for BPS students; required lab fee of $10
Open to high school students ages 14 – 18. All video, sound and computer equipment is provided. Register online at www.icateens.org under “Classes.” 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 Krupp Family Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable 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.
Calendar
Summer of art love
June Friday 1/9
Friday 7/17
Friday 8/7
Film
Music
HOME World Premiere
Talking Taste Colin Lynch and John Gertsner
8:30 pm
6:30 pm
Friday 6/5
Thursday 7/23
Film
Music
HOME World Premiere
HarborWalk Sounds La Timbistica
8:30 pm
6 – 8:30 pm
Sunday 6/7
Friday 7/24
4 pm
Author Talk
Talking Taste Deidre Heekin and Caleb Barber
Sunday 8/9
Alain De Botton
2:30 pm
6:30 pm
Friday 6/12
Wavelengths
7:30 pm
Saturday 8/8 Film Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
1:30 pm Film Scratch
Film Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
Experiment Super Secret Summer Surprise
Saturday 7/25
1:30 pm
Play Date Your Body in Art
Film
8 pm – 12 am
10 am – 4 pm
4 pm
Friday 6/26
Thursday 7/30
Talking Taste Ana Sortun
Music
Thursday 8/13
6:30 pm
HarborWalk Sounds Alex Wintz
6 – 8:30 pm
Saturday 6/27 Play Date Obey Giant
10 am – 4 pm
Friday 7/31 Talking Taste Frank McClelland
6:30 pm
Sunday 6/28 Bike Tour Shepard Fairey Off Site
10 am
JULY Thursday 7/9 Music
AUGUST Saturday 8/1 Film Bomb It
1:30 pm Film They Live
4 pm
6 – 8:30 pm
Sunday 8/2 Film Bomb It
Dance
1:30 pm
The Disappearing Woman
Film
7:30 pm
Thursday 7/16 Music HarborWalk Sounds Tubby Love
6 – 8:30 pm
Music HarborWalk Shuffle
6 – 8:30 pm
Friday 8/14 Music Wavelengths
7:30 pm
Thursday 8/20
HarborWalk Sounds Neara Russell
Saturday 7/11
Scratch
They Live
4 pm
Thursday 8/6 Music HarborWalk Sounds
6 – 8:30 pm
Music
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 one hour 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. Free Public Tours
See p. P4
HarborWalk Shuffle
Teen Programs
6 – 8:30 pm
See p. P9
Friday 8/21 Music Wavelengths
7:30 pm
Thursday 8/27 Music HarborWalk Shuffle
6 – 8:30 pm
Friday 8/28 Music Wavelengths
7:30 pm
Saturday 8/29 Play Date By the Sea
10 am – 4 pm
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.
On View
The artists of the moment
Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand
Through August 16, 2009
Momentum 13: Eileen Quinlan
Through July 12, 2009
ICA Collection: Portrait of a Museum
Through July 12, 2009
Acting Out: Social Experiments in Video
Through October 18, 2009
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Ugo Rondinone
Through November 1, 2009
Momentum 14: Rodney McMillian
July 29 – November 1, 2009
Top to bottom : Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand, installation view, photo: John Kennard; Tara Donovan, Untitled (Pins) (detail), 2003. Promised gift of Barbara Lee. Photo courtesy of Barbara Krakow Gallery.; Artur Zmijewski, THEM (SIE), still from video, 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Peter Kilchmann, Zurich.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · Programs Summer 2009
General Information
Getting Here
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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 July 4.
Admission
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THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/ BOSTON
100 Northern Avenue
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Museum, Store & Cafe Hours SE
World Trade Center
Directions
The ICA is located at 100 Northern Avenue in Boston. It’s 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 World Trade Center or Courthouse station. 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. 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.
T he I nstitute of C ontemporary A rt/ B oston
$15 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 with children 12 and under) on the last Saturday of each month (except December) Target Free Thursday Nights are sponsored by Play Dates are sponsored by
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 TTY 617-478-3287
Official Hotel Sponsor
07·support
Art Does a Body Good
HP Hood Helps the ICA Open its Doors to Families On the last Saturday of the month, you might find as many as 800 artists at the ICA. Play Dates, our free monthly programs for families, provides a place for young imaginations to run wild. This year, Hood, New England's leading dairy products manufacturer, will be the exclusive sponsor of Play Dates, also providing refreshments at many of this year’s programs. “HP Hood is proud to support such an innovative and interactive program, a program that provides young families with a cost-effective way to spend a weekend day together,” says Lynne Bohan. “Hood has been committed to providing enriching opportunities for families throughout New England for more than 150 years, making sponsorship of ICA Play Dates a natural fit.” Performances, films, and hands-on activities are a fun and relatable way to present artistic concepts to young people. Kids have learned about product design while making marshmallow shooters, staged their own Philip-Lorca diCorcia-inspired family portraits, and made powerful messages combining graphics and text like Shepard Fairey. “I want art to be an integral part of my children’s life,” says one regular Play Date visitor, whose children are four and 10 months. “I want them to get used to visiting places where art objects are exhibited, to get used to the way you observe art and the way you behave in these places. I want them to feel comfortable and confident in a museum.” Fun, educational, and affordable are three must-haves on any parent’s checklist. For many Play Date parents, introducing art and creativity into their children’s lives is just as important. “Personally, I feel that art is a way to look at our world through a different perspective,” says another parent. “It’s important for children to find ways to be creative and expressive, and ICA Play Dates definitely foster both creative and expressive energy in the kids.” “Being open to new ideas and ways of thinking is a critical part of developing creative and thoughtful children,”says the Hudanich family, who have an eight-yearold and 6-year-old twins. “The ICA has provided something no one else has—a truly family-oriented experience with an enthusiastic staff that makes us feel very welcome and glad we participated.” Together, the ICA and HP Hood are helping to nourish young minds as well as bodies. We are truly grateful for their support.
The Director’s Circle
Membership in the Director’s Circle offers a deeper experience for those with a special interest in contemporary art, performance, film and new media. Enjoy unparalleled access to the artists and minds behind the ICA’s acclaimed programs. Events like After Hours with the Curator help you keep pace with the scope of our exhibition program. This winter’s installment of After Hours was particularly exciting, because DC members witnessed the announcement of the 2008 James and Audrey Foster Prize winner. The prize, awarded to a Boston-based artist of exceptional promise, was presented to Andrew Witkin. This year’s finalists also included Catherine D’Ignazio, Rania Matar, and Joe Zane. Director’s Circle members, as well as leaders in Boston’s arts community, enjoyed a private, curator-led tour of the exhibition, followed by a cocktail reception. Save the date for the upcoming After Hours with the Curator on August 4
For more information about the Director’s Circle and how to get involved, e-mail directorscircle@icaboston.org
The Director’s Circle is sponsored by Silver Bridge Advisors
Photo: Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2009
08·membership
Be sure to say “hi” at the next opening
“Thanks for making Boston a better place to live.” — ICA Member
Member Spotlight The ICA values not only the financial support you provide, but also the energy you bring to our organization as friends and family in the ICA community. We recently spoke with two long-term members who shared their thoughts about the ICA and our current exhibition.
Heather Roy is a self-proclaimed "ICA Fan," a longstanding member, and Founder/Gallery Director of ARTANA. Why did you join the ICA?
I joined because of its good vibe. I felt it as a Mass Art student and I feel it still as an arts professional.
What events do you enjoy attending at the ICA?
I am a softie for an ICA opening night. Running into familiar faces from all walks of life and hob-knobbing with the friendly ICA staff is the perfect ending to any workday. What is your favorite ICA color?
What has been your favorite show or artist?
ORANGE!
Jeff Koons’s big, shiny rabbit stopped me in my tracks! Tara Donovan's suspended Styrofoam cup installation transported me to a place that could well have been heaven.
If Shepard Fairey made a print of you, what word or phrase would be placed beneath the picture?
“Tenacious.”
Members, Go Green!
You can help us make the transition to a more earth-friendly and economical mode of communication. Learn more about our Green Membership plan on p. 13.
Stephen Skuce is a Charter
Member of the ICA, having joined before the opening of our building in December 2006. He is the Rare Books Program Coordinator for the MIT libraries. Tell us about your experience as a member visiting the ICA.
Three friends and I ran screaming to the ICA on Saturday, January 4, the day before the Tara Donovan show was going to close. The place was packed, with a ticket line snaking through the lobby. Luckily for us, there's a special window just for members (and their guests!), so we were whisked into the gallery in no time flat.
What resources do you use to find out about art, music and performance?
I subscribe to the Boston Globe in print. That's my primary source for arts events, really. I look at the Phoenix website, too. I depend on the ICA for most of my contemporary art needs. It's convenient, looks great, and has zero calories.
What is your favorite benefit of being an ICA member?
I donate 5% of my income to charities and nonprofits, many of them arts organizations. So one benefit is just doing the right thing; I love the arts, I want them to be there in the future, and I want my city to be a healthy environment for art and artists. What is your favorite ICA color?
I'm pretty partial to the purple. If you could ask Shepard Fairey to make a print of any person or hero of yours, who would it be?
One of my idols is E.M. Forster, the British novelist and essayist. If I could borrow only one attribute from another person, I would wish to have E.M. Forster's tone. If Shepard Fairey made a print of you, what word or phrase would be placed beneath the picture?
"Dope."
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON 路 summer 2009
10·LOOKING FORWARD More to watch for
Momentum 14: Rodney McMillian
Damián Ortega: Do It Yourself
July 29 – November 1, 2009
September 18, 2009 – January 17, 2010
Rodney McMillian’s multidisciplinary practice, which includes abstract painting, found-object sculpture, video, and performance, addresses themes of race, identity, and commerce in contemporary American culture. The artist often refers to American political history in his work, such as reciting Lyndon B. Johnson’s famous 1964 “Great Society” speech at gallery openings. By recalling our recent past, McMillian reflects on the progress of our society and the current political climate. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1969, McMillian lives and works in Los Angeles. In 2008, his work was featured prominently in several exhibitions, including 30 Americans at the Rubell Collection, Miami; the Whitney Biennial, New York; and a solo project at The Kitchen, New York. Momentum 14, which will include new work, is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in the U.S.
In Damián Ortega’s work, objects are never allowed to rest—they are pulled apart, suspended, or rearranged, calling attention to the dynamism of the world around us and the hidden poetry in the everyday. For the series Construcciones (Autoconstrucción) (1997 – 2002), Ortega amassed and strapped together furniture and commonplace objects in his apartment to create towers, bridges, and other highly precarious arrangements. One of his best known works, Cosmic Thing (2002) disassembles and suspends the parts of a Volkswagen Beetle. Born in 1967 in Mexico City, Ortega is one of the most prominent artists of the new Mexican generation. This exhibition, the first-ever survey exhibition of Ortega’s work, will show the arc of his artistic output with approximately 17 sculptures and installations.
Momentum exhibitions present a focused look at artists whose works mark emerging currents in contemporary artistic practice in the U.S. and around the world. Support for the Momentum series is provided by the International Council of the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Rodney McMillian, Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting), 2004-2006. Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. Photo Credit: Gene Ogami
Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Veterans Project
November 4, 2009 - March 7, 2010 Polish-born artist Krzysztof Wodiczko’s politically-charged works explore the relationship between art, democracy, trauma, and healing. In 1998, the ICA commissioned Wodiczko’s Bunker Hill Monument Projection in Charlestown, focusing on the stories of community members profoundly affected by inner-city violence and an ineffective justice system. Ten years later, the artist will develop a new film installation for the ICA, focusing on the experience of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Believing that “silence and invisibility are the greatest enemies of democracy,” Wodiczko will use The Veterans Project to amplify voices not usually heard. Krzysztof Wodiczko, Tijuana Projection, 2001. Public video projection at the Centro Cultural de Tijuana, Mexico, part of the event InSite 2000. © Krzysztof Wodiczko. Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York
The Veterans Project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. The Veterans Project is also made possible through the support of the Nimoy Foundation, LEF New England, and the Artists Resource Trust of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Damián Ortega, Puente, Construcciones (Autoconstrucción),1997. Collection Inhotim Centro de Arte Contemporanea, Minas Gerais, Brazil
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · summer 2009
12·PICKS
Put a little art in your “staycation”
ICA Tour Guides
What are Boston’s best kept art secrets?
The ICA Tour Guides are a diverse group of individuals—scientists, economists, artists, students—united by a common passion for today’s art and facility for sharing it with our visitors. They know the ICA and its exhibitions backwards and forwards, but their expertise doesn’t end there. We asked them to share some of the hidden gems in Boston’s art scene. Anne Simone
Connie
2008-09 Tour guide I love the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton. Their exhibitions are unusually interesting, featuring work in paper—like an evening dress made out of $1.00 bills and another of Mary Jane candy wrappers—and objects or paintings in wood, metal, and fabric. It’s a small gem in a lovely setting, and admission is free on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 9 pm. (455 Oak Street, Brockton; www.fullercraft.org)
Tour guide since 2006 Sometimes I go to museums just for the special exhibitions, and I forget that their permanent collections are wild treasure troves of interesting artifacts. The MFA has a room that is filled to the brim with odd historical musical instruments, and sometimes there is someone demonstrating them live. I thought that PEM only had the Yin Yu Tang house and their temporary exhibitions, but I finally went to the other galleries and—voila!—tons of maritime artifacts. And at the RISD Museum, you can find Nesmin, the only Egyptian mummy I have ever seen that actually seems to have a spirit stirring in him. (www.mfa.org; www.pem.org; www.risdmuseum.org)
Brigid
Tour guide since 2006 My favorite artists in Boston are Jason Karakehian, a minimalist sculptor who lives and breathes for making art, and John Guthrie and Matthew Rich, both brilliant painters who are creating new ways of communicating within the parameters of the medium. I will see anything James Hull curates, especially at the FP3 gallery, which is fast becoming the coolest little space that no one knows. Plus chef Barbara Lynch does the openings...and closings! (346 Congress Street, Boston) I'm also a big fan of drop-in drawing on Tuesday nights at the Eliot School. It’s $15 for two hours of live models. Great vibe, totally laid back. (24 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain; www.eliotschool.org)
Rebecca
2008-09 Tour guide Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Burlesque Life Drawing Sessions are not your typical art classes. Every second Sunday afternoon, from 2:30 to 5:30 pm at Great Scott, you can draw as models strip to their skivvies. Serious art meets cabaret, with drinks, snacks, and fun contests. (Great Scott, 1222 Commonwealth Ave, Boston; 18+ ; www.drsketchy.com)
Members: Go Green!
Get more in your inbox, less in your mailbox
One way we are working towards becoming a more green organization is by reducing the amount of printed materials we mail to members. We’ve already begun by combining this issue of New with the summer programs calendar. While we will continue to mail New three times a year, Green Members will receive only electronic invitations to exhibition openings and exclusive member events. We’ll keep you up-to-date with our bimonthly eNews as well. To switch to our new Green Membership plan, send us an e-mail at gogreen@icaboston.org with your preferred e-mail address.
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 Franz Buzawa Find us on Flickr to share your ICA photos Photos by Thorsten Becker - alternatewords.com; Michelle Muise; Richard Williams Photography; © 2009 Cela Libeskind; Philip Songa
SHOP
ICA Store at the Holly McGrath Design Center
Movable Feast
Take a cue from us and bring the party outdoors! With the ICA Store’s new crop of affordable, design-conscious items, you’ll be mobile and of-the-moment. Bento Box Why brown bag it? Vivo’s stackable, dishwasher-safe melamine trays are colorful, convenient, and eco-friendly. $36 ($32.40 members) Soji Contemporary Solar Lantern Unique, portable, efficient, wireless! The lantern turns itself on at dusk to cast a stunning, golden glow night after night. $39.95 ($37.96 members) Aladdin Artist Series Mugs 12oz insulated art mugs feature illustrations by Heisuke Kitazawa, Jon Burgerman, and more. $18 ($16.20 members)
Visit the ICA Store at the Holly McGrath Design Center, located off the main lobby on the first floor of the ICA, or shop anytime at www.icastore.org.
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
100 Northern Avenue Boston, MA 02210
Shop the ICA Store from anywhere—even South Africa! Momentum artist Nicholas Hlobo models the ICA “Audacious” t-shirt in his hometown, Johannesburg.