Visual Arts

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...

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...

13 art exhibits to explore this fall

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

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...

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.

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."

'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...

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...

'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

High above on a knuckle lift, Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs works on “Breathe Life Together,” the next mural to be featured on the façade of the Dewey Square Tunnel Air Intake Structure on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

At the Greenway, Rob 'ProBlak' Gibbs paints an ode to Boston

"This mural represents the past, present and future, but it's actively getting people from those times together to speak, not just to me, but to each other," the artist says.

Arts & Culture

Jun 23, 2022

Left: Kehinde Wiley, "Barack Obama," 2018. Right: Amy Sherald, "Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama," 2018. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

11 art exhibits to heat up your summer

From an exhibit featuring the playful fashions of designer Patrick Kelly to the final stop of the national tour of the Obama presidential portraits, visual arts writer Pamela Reynolds recommends...

Arts & Culture

Jun 13, 2022

Installation view, "Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms," the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2022. (Courtesy Charles Mayer/ICA)

At the ICA Watershed, found objects are poetic and political

The six installations that make up the exhibition "Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms" explore themes of labor and production, capitalism and consumerism, as well as the sustainability of it all.

Arts & Culture

May 26, 2022

A visitor to the Venice Biennale photographs Simone Leigh's sculpture entitled "Jug." Leigh has been awarded a Golden Lion at the 59th International Art Exhibition. (Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images)

At the Venice Biennale, artist Simone Leigh centers experience of Black women

Leigh is the first Black woman to be awarded the Biennale commission for the U.S. pavilion, and she made over the pavilion to reflect just that.

Arts & Culture

04:37May 13, 2022

Joseph Mallord William Turner, "The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834," 1835. (Courtesy The Cleveland Museum of Art)

'Turner's Modern World' is an eye-popping and informative show at the MFA

This exhibition, in its last stop on a three-city tour, makes a strong case that 19th-century artist Joseph Mallord William Turner is England's greatest painter, art critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews.

Arts & Culture

May 3, 2022

Philip Guston, "Open Window," 1969. (Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

After postponement, Philip Guston's work finally arrives at the MFA

The exhibition was scheduled to open July 2021, but in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and a rise in white supremacist activity, the show was pushed to allow the...

Arts & Culture

Apr 28, 2022

Simone Leigh altered the exterior of the U.S. pavilion to give it the appearance of a traditional African rondavel. (Courtesy Simone Leigh and Matthew Marks Gallery/Timothy Schenck)

Artist Simone Leigh's work transforms the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Leigh, the first Black woman to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale, not only entices onlookers with her sculptures but subverts the physical space that holds them.

Arts & Culture

Apr 22, 2022

Konstantin Dimopoulos, "Blue Tree Yellow Leaves Looking Up." (Coutesy Konstantin Dimopoulos/Peabody Essex Museum)

At Peabody Essex Museum, trees are turning blue for Earth Day

Australia-based artist Konstantin Dimopoulos’ temporary art installation, “The Blue Trees,” uses biologically-safe watercolor and a team of community volunteers to color trees an electric blue to highlight deforestation.

Arts & Culture

Apr 22, 2022

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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

At the Greenway, Rob 'ProBlak' Gibbs paints an ode to Boston

11 art exhibits to heat up your summer

At the ICA Watershed, found objects are poetic and political

At the Venice Biennale, artist Simone Leigh centers experience of Black women

'Turner's Modern World' is an eye-popping and informative show at the MFA

After postponement, Philip Guston's work finally arrives at the MFA

Artist Simone Leigh's work transforms the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

At Peabody Essex Museum, trees are turning blue for Earth Day