Inside art gallery Praise Shadows' new home

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After five years in Brookline, contemporary art gallery Praise Shadows is in a new 2,000-square-foot space in downtown Boston. I was recently perusing the gallery’s art store with Praise Shadows founder Yng-Ru Chen. She pointed to a slim book with a black cover. It was “In Praise of Shadows” by Japanese philosopher Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It’s where the gallery gets its name.

“Tanizaki  was lamenting and writing about how electricity was going to change aesthetics in Japan,” said Chen. He argues that shadows are essential places of beauty. “ When I was learning art history in college, it was always taught from a Western painting perspective. The only two differences in light and aesthetics were Venetian light and Florentine light. That was the big dichotomy.”

When Chen read Tanizaki, she remembers realizing that there were whole other aesthetic worlds that many in the West hadn’t been exposed to. “When I started Praise Shadows, this was really the book and the philosophy that I was locked into.”

Since its founding in December 2020, Praise Shadows has shown works by artists who may be underrecognized or simply overlooked in the arts landscape. As a gallery, it aims to uncover the beauty of art created in the “shadows,” art that says something pertinent and important about the world we live in.

Praise Shadows’ move to downtown Boston is part of an initiative driven by Mayor Michelle Wu and the Downtown Boston Alliance to bring more creative organizations and businesses to the area. The gallery’s new space is flooded with light, an added bonus from the soaring, 14-foot ceilings. As Chen gave us a tour, local residents walked by, turning to quickly look through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The space is around double the size of the old gallery in Coolidge Corner.

When I visited, a show called “Summoning” was up. It included pieces by artists like Yu-Wen Wu and Ekua Holmes. “ I’d been thinking about showing that piece for a while,” Chen said, referencing Wu’s massive paper piece “The Accumulation of Dreams.” “But it never made sense in the old space. It was too big. But here, it's just to scale.”

It’s one testament to what the new space will help the gallery accomplish. Praise Shadows is in a unique place, nestled between Chinatown and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. It overlooks Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park, named after two beloved Chinatown residents. The area feels like a neighborhood and business district all at once. It’s something that Chen appreciates.

“I think Boston is accustomed to certain neighborhoods, that’s where you go to see art,” she said. “But why can’t an art gallery exist right in a neighborhood?  My feeling is that art should exist wherever it needs to exist.”

Praise Shadows is offering an alternative to the private art gallery experience. Its mentorship program, now an emerging writing fellowship in collaboration with Boston Art Review, has helped introduce young artists, writers and curators to the worlds of curation and galleries. The art shop, established at the gallery's old space, is a perfect way for visitors to purchase stickers, books and other artsy paraphernalia, even if they may not be able to afford the price of other works in the gallery. The “flat files” are a new addition — it’s where visitors can see prints and other works not on view with the help of staff.

One of the things Chen hopes the new space does is shift the perception of what an art gallery is and what it can do in a community. People have asked her how much it is to enter or if they could even come in. Some have a fear that there’s an expectation to buy something once inside.

“That’s never our expectation,” said Chen. “ Not every show is going to be for everybody. Some will be super conceptual, others may be more family-friendly. It doesn't really matter. Just come in.”

The lineup for 2026 includes solo shows by Massachusetts-based artists, including Crystalle Lacouture, and a summer group show, guest curated by comedian  Atsuko Okatsuka. Praise Shadows is also in conversation with the Rose Kennedy Greenway about the possibility of installing site-specific work outside.

While the space (and the ceiling height) may have expanded, Chen says the mission of Praise Shadows is the same. “The artists who we show all have an important point of view  for this point in time. And that's never going to change.”