Free Thursday Nights at the ICA
Three exciting exhibitions on view
General admission to the Institute of Contemporary Art is free every Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. Photo courtesy of the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston Facebook
Want to peruse the city’s latest modern art exhibitions but afraid that your wallet can’t handle a steep admission fee? Each Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., the Institute of Contemporary Art offers free admission. So turn off the television, get off the couch, and head over to the ICA tonight.
The captivating exhibitions currently on view include Jim Hodges: Give More Than You Can Take, an exploration of the New York city–based sculpture and installation artist; Nathalie Djurberg + Hans Berg: A World of Glass, a sculpture and video collaboration by Swedish artist Djurberg and Swedish composer Berg; and the conceptual art exhibition Multiple Occupancy: Eleanor Antin’s “Selves.”
Of these three, it’s Jim Hodges: Give More Than You Can Take that steals the spotlight. The show, which runs through September 1, highlights the major themes in Hodges’ work over his 25-year career: time, fragility, and love. The work showcases his unique use of ordinary materials—glass, mirrors, and lightbulbs to name a few—to create beautiful pieces of art. Untitled (one day it all comes true) uses denim fabric to create a breathtaking tapestry of clouds. You employs silk, cotton, and polyester to create an airy and delicate curtain of flowers, and Untitled (Love) is made from strips cut from dozens of pages of sheet music and pasted together where the word “love” appears. The Hodges exhibition includes photography, drawing, works on paper, and even several room-size installations.
Nathalie Djurberg + Hans Berg: A World of Glass and Multiple Occupancy: Eleanor Antin’s “Selves,” both on view through July 6, offer a vastly different counterpoint to Hodges’ work. A World of Glass exudes an ominous feel. Set in a dark room, four tables of fragile polyurethane sculptures (193 in total) are coupled with four videos that contain violent and sinister images, addressing themes of sexual discovery, desire, and suffering. The show comes with a warning that it may not be suitable for all viewers. In Multiple Occupancy, conceptual artist Antin explores the way history develops through her creation of alter egos. In “Selves,” Antin creates and embodies alternate personas of varying genders, races, and professions using paper dolls and puppets.
Starting July 10 and running through August 28, ICA’s Free Thursdays will also feature a free summer concert series, with music from bluegrass to British electronica and funk by musicians affiliated with Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave., Boston, is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $15, $13 for seniors, $10 for students, free for ages 17 and under, free for members, and free each Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. Find a list of upcoming ICA exhibitions here. By public transportation, take any MBTA Green Line trolley to Park Street, transfer to a Red Line inbound train to South Station, then to the Silver Line Waterfront bus. The ICA is within walking distance of the World Trade Center or Courthouse station.
Irene Berman-Vaporis can be reached at imbv@bu.edu.
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