Eva LeWitt, Untitled (Mesh Circles), 2021, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Courtesy the artist and VI,VII, Oslo, Norway. Photo by Ernesto Galan. © Eva LeWitt
You wouldn’t normally think of the Institute for Contemporary Art as home.
But it is—a home for emerging ideas. A home for living artists—where their work has context, is welcomed with love and respect. It’s also a home—a sanctuary, really—in the towering Seaport District, an essential refuge in that looming maze of high-rises and chic shops.
Things have changed at home.
ICA/Boston is open, with timed reservations required. Crowds are sparse, and the galleries are well monitored to allow social distancing. Exhibitions—there are four, along with Eva LeWitt’s huge wall installation in the downstairs lobby—are limited to the fourth floor.
The exhibitions are drawn from the ICA’s permanent collection—a blessing really, since not that long ago the ICA did not have a permanent collection.
The most striking of them—Ragnar Kjartansson’s musical video installation “The Visitors,” and “i’m yours,” a group exhibition of favorite works from recents shows—make sure we stay focused on home, and companionship.
“i’m yours” mimics the comforts of home, by offering familiar objects from recent ICA exhibitions. Museum regulars will remember Cornelia Parker’s “Hanging Fire (Suspected Arson),” or Tara Donovan’s striking cube “Untitled (Pins).” Mona Hatoum’s conjoined teacups—“T42”—feels both comical and sad—a familiar household object fabricated in an impossible fashion, an wistful and cockeyed metaphor for the enforced home-boundedness of pandemic living.
Portraits hung in one section of the large exhibition transfix the viewer. Rainer Matar’s “Orly and Ruth” tugs at relationships in the pandemic era—a simple hug between sisters, without masks, seems to violate sensible protocols, until you understand the context. “Elizabeth”—Catherine Opie’s classic portrait of the decidedly un-classical choreographer Elizabeth Streb—hides as much as it reveals. Almost two dozen portraits create a maze of interaction, staring out as viewers gaze back.
Greeting visitors to “i’m yours,” Simone Leigh’s “Cupboard IX”—thoroughly labeled to explicate the sculpture’s references to racist history—still seems welcoming in a child-like way.
Child-like abandon also percolates in Ragnar Kjartansson’s “The Visitors.” A nine-channel video installation, “The Visitors” depicts an extended musical improvisation on a simple anthem, the musicians each occupying their own room in a stylishly run-down estate in upstate New York.
The simple tune long overstays its welcome in the one-hour performance. But the staggeringly beautiful tableaux vivants of the performers—each has a dedicated video feed, shown around the gallery and eventually melding as the music unfolds—coupled with the earnest performances, create a nostalgia for simpler pleasures.
If the pandemic has taught how to be patient with emotions, “The Visitors” shows us why we should. It’s impossible to explain why it so soothing to watch an hourlong jam session. Grab a folding chair in the hallway before entering, and get comfortable.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Love is Calling” has been forced to close—officially, the air flow of the gallery does not meet current safety standards. A companion exhibition, “Beyond Infinity: Contemporary Art after Kusama,” loses its context because of the closing. But the additional selections from the permanent collection in “Beyond Infinity,” including works by Kusama’s contemporaries Louise Bourgeois, Josiah McElheny and Ana Mendieta, are still a welcome sight.
“i’m yours” runs through May 23, although the extensive virtual experience will likely remain online longer. “Beyond Infinity” stays on view until July 18. Kjartansson’s “The Visitors”—now part of the permanent collection—remains available through Aug. 15.
ICA/Boston is closed Mondays, but open late on Thursday and Friday evenings. Timed entry reservations required. Wear a mask. Crowds were modest on a weekday visit.
The museum store is open, but the café and coat check are closed. All exhibitions are in the fourth floor galleries, except LeWitt’s “Untitled (Mesh Circles)” in the entryway. Visit icaboston.org or call 617 478-3100.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.