Visual Arts

Photographer Daniel Kramer spent 366 days with Bob Dylan. (Courtesy Daniel Kramer)

New Bob Dylan photo exhibit provides a candid look into a critical point in the artist's career

“Don’t Think Twice: The Daniel Kramer Photographs of Bob Dylan, 1964-65” will be on view at the Boch Center Wang Theatre through March 29.

Arts & Culture

Jan 23, 2023

PEM Executive Director and CEO Lynda Roscoe Hartigan (left) and Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd examine the Witch Trial documents from 1692. (Courtesy Kathy Tarantola/PEM)

Peabody Essex Museum returns a trove of Salem Witch Trials records to Mass. SJC

Hand-written complaints, death warrants and depositions are among 527 documents that have been under the Peabody Essex Museum's care since 1980. Now, the time-worn papers will be housed and preserved...

Arts & Culture

Jan 12, 2023

Donna Esolen, "Untitled" (2021), embroidery floss on printed fabric. (Courtesy Fuller Craft Museum)

12 art exhibits to explore this winter

The shows present a sense of interrelatedness, and while the work may come from different corners of the world, much of it expresses human vitality, how we grow and change.

Arts & Culture

Jan 9, 2023

Left, Yolanda He Yang’s “Blank Paper” art demonstration in a forest. Right, a close-up of one of the many painted pieces of glass from Yang’s public art demonstrations. (Courtesy Yolanda He Yang)

Local artist stages demonstration inspired by protesters in China

To subtly express dissent over China's "zero-COVID" policy, protesters have been holding up blank pieces of paper. Their ingenuity inspired artist Yolanda He Yang.

Arts & Culture

02:29Dec 13, 2022

"Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life" is available Nov. 29. (Courtesy Princeton University Press)

New biography wrestles with Isabella Stewart Gardner's contradicting complexities

Diana Seave Greenwald and Nathaniel Silver, two curators at the the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, have a new biography out about the woman who "by design, made herself a mystery.”

Arts & Culture

Nov 28, 2022

Rhona MacBeth, director of conservation and scientific research at the MFA. (Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

MFA's new Conservation Center gives visitors a behind the scenes look at museum work

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is opening a new Conservation Center where visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the conservation process.

Arts & Culture

Nov 10, 2022

Xena Ni and Mollie Ruskin, "Transaction Denied," 2019. (Courtesy Eric Chiu/Fuller Craft)

Fuller Craft explores food insecurity through art in new exhibit

In a vast array of media -- including ceramics, paper sculpture, metalwork and live plants -- 15 artists in 19 works explore divergent aspects of our food conundrum, and in...

Arts & Culture

Nov 10, 2022

Left to right: Frank Bowling's "Suncrush," 1976 (Courtesy Sophie M. Friedman Fund; Frank Bowling; DACS, London & ARS, New York 2022; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); "Woosh," 1974 (Courtesy Jaime Alvarez; Frank Bowling; DACS, London & ARS, New York 2022; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); and "Who's Afraid of Barney Newman," 1968 (Courtesy Tate: Presented by Rachel Scott 2006; Frank Bowling; DACS/Artimage, London & ARS, New York 2022; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

At the MFA, abstract painter Frank Bowling finally gets his due

In “Frank Bowling’s Americas,” running Oct. 22-April 9, American art fans can finally revel in work created by the artist during his seminal years in New York between 1966 and...

Arts & Culture

Oct 18, 2022

Simone Martini, "Virgin and Child with Saints", about 1320. (Courtesy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum)

Gold at the Gardner: Paintings 700 years apart have some things in common

The exhibition “Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art” confirms that “art is art, no matter what the period, and the juxtaposition of old and new creates...

Arts & Culture

Oct 12, 2022

Frederick Myrick, "Susan’s Tooth with silver mounts," February 23, 1829. Engraved on the ship Japan. Whale tooth. (Courtesy The Dietrich American Foundation Collection/Cahoon Museum of American Art)

What scrimshaw — and a female pirate — can tell us about 19th-century whaling

On view at Cape Cod's Cahoon Museum of American Art, this largely forgotten folk art form -- turning discarded whale bones and teeth into novel canvases -- is filled with...

Arts & Culture

05:57Oct 5, 2022

Frank Bowling , "Middle Passage," 1970. (Courtesy the artist; Menil Collection, Houston; Adam Neese; DACS, London; ARS, New York; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

13 art exhibits to explore this fall

This season, museums are offering exhibits revolving around such themes as childhood, food justice and the environment.

Arts & Culture

Sep 12, 2022

Karmimadeebora McMillan in front of her painting at Boston Center for the Arts’ new Project Room. (Courtesy Melissa Blackall Photography/ Boston Center for the Arts)

Artist Karmimadeebora McMillan's colorful landscapes are more than what meets the eye

Currently on view at the BCA and MassArt x SoWa Gallery, McMillan's work focuses on Black material culture, and it began when her friend gifted her a caricature from the...

Arts & Culture

Aug 30, 2022

MASS MoCA opened two decades ago in the city of North Adams. (Beth J. Harpaz/AP)

Unionized workers at MASS MoCA plan one-day strike for Friday

Frustrated with the progress of contract negotiations, the workers have scheduled a strike and picket outside the museum from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Arts & Culture

Aug 16, 2022

A daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson at age 16 from the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. (Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Irreverent pop culture and history join forces at the reopened Emily Dickinson Museum

The 19th-century poet's home in Amherst has reopened after a major renovation that includes a boon of donated props from the Apple TV+ series "Dickinson."

Arts & Culture

06:49Aug 16, 2022

Creative Producer Mark Lach shoots some video in the "Journey to the Afterlife" room at the "Beyond King Tut" immersive experience in Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

'Beyond King Tut' invites visitors into an immersive world of the ancient Egyptians

It's been 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. The installation at the SoWa Power Station offers an opportunity to "experience the artifacts in a whole new way," says...

Arts & Culture

Jul 13, 2022

On the left is "Am I glowing yet," featuring artist Valerie Imparato looking skeptically into a mirror. On the right, "The Container" shows a more abstract portraiture of the artist. (Jesse Costa/ WBUR)

In 'The Road to Zoe,' an artist documents her journey from miscarriage to pregnancy

Somerville artist Valerie Imparato explores themes of motherhood, loss and joy in her newest mixed-media exhibit that follows her story from her miscarriage in 2020 to the birth of her...

Arts & Culture

Jul 12, 2022

Patrick Kelly’s Fall/Winter 1988–1989 advertising campaign. Photograph by Oliviero Toscani. (Courtesy of the Estate of Patrick Kelly. Scan by Randy Dodson/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

'Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love' explores Blackness and queerness at PEM

The exhibition celebrates the fashion designer's artistic prowess while centering his layered identities as a Black queer man who drew much of his inspiration from his upbringing in Mississippi, along...

Arts & Culture

Jul 7, 2022

IUDs on display in the exhibit "Designing Motherhood." (Courtesy Constance Mensh and the Mütter Museum)

In a post-Roe world, an exhibit exploring reproduction is more timely than ever

Years in the making, the exhibition "Designing Motherhood" at the MassArt Art Museum features 200 objects that explore the history of human reproduction, including IUDs, speculums and baby monitors.

Arts & Culture

05:10Jul 6, 2022

Yenny Hernandez in front of the Prudential Center. (Courtesy Dominic Chavez)

Muralist Yenny Hernandez wants Bostonians to talk about their dreams

The Dorchester artist transformed the Prudential Center’s glass entrance on Boylston Street into a vibrant tapestry of nature and included the phrase "Let your dreams take flight."

Arts & Culture

Jul 1, 2022

"Protect Trans Dreams: A Portrait Project" is on view at the Boston Children's Museum through July 24. (Courtesy Boston Children's Museum)

Noah Grigni brings magic and curiosity to portraits of trans kids

Grigni’s exhibit at the Boston Children’s Museum, called “Protect Trans Dreams: A Portrait Project,” depicts seven trans kids from New England.

Arts & Culture

04:14Jun 29, 2022

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New Bob Dylan photo exhibit provides a candid look into a critical point in the artist's career

Peabody Essex Museum returns a trove of Salem Witch Trials records to Mass. SJC

12 art exhibits to explore this winter

Local artist stages demonstration inspired by protesters in China

New biography wrestles with Isabella Stewart Gardner's contradicting complexities

MFA's new Conservation Center gives visitors a behind the scenes look at museum work

Fuller Craft explores food insecurity through art in new exhibit

At the MFA, abstract painter Frank Bowling finally gets his due

Gold at the Gardner: Paintings 700 years apart have some things in common

What scrimshaw — and a female pirate — can tell us about 19th-century whaling

13 art exhibits to explore this fall

Artist Karmimadeebora McMillan's colorful landscapes are more than what meets the eye

Unionized workers at MASS MoCA plan one-day strike for Friday

Irreverent pop culture and history join forces at the reopened Emily Dickinson Museum

'Beyond King Tut' invites visitors into an immersive world of the ancient Egyptians

In 'The Road to Zoe,' an artist documents her journey from miscarriage to pregnancy

'Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love' explores Blackness and queerness at PEM

In a post-Roe world, an exhibit exploring reproduction is more timely than ever

Muralist Yenny Hernandez wants Bostonians to talk about their dreams

Noah Grigni brings magic and curiosity to portraits of trans kids