Arts

Check out ‘Wordplay,’ a text-inspired exhibit at the ICA

Name: Check out ‘Wordplay,’ a text-inspired exhibit at the ICA
Start: 2024-01-30T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-12-01T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Institute of Contemporary Art

The exhibit displays some of the ICA's recent acquisitions.

"If You Got the Money Honey" by Boston-based Joe Wardwell; 2021, acrylic on canvas, gift of Mathieu O. Gaulin.

By Natalie Gale

December 7, 2023

Event Link

https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/wordplay/

Event Ticket Link

https://my.icaboston.org/events?view=list

From Jan. 30 through Dec. 1, the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston will feature a new exhibit in its Kim and Jim Pallotta Gallery called “Wordplay,” which draws mostly from the contemporary museum’s permanent collection to feature art that uses text. Highlighting the similarities between looking at art and reading, “Wordplay” shows how artists rely not just on images but also on words to convey — or change — their meanings.

While words have played a role in art for centuries, “text art” as a genre is a contemporary art concept, emerging with conceptual art of the ‘60s. The exhibit will feature works by pioneering artists like Jenny Holzer and Glenn Ligon, along with newer, never displayed acquisitions by artists like Kenturah Davis, Taylor Davis, Joe Wardwell, and Rivane Neuenschwander. The works in “Wordplay” use words for philosophical or political messaging, to reference other artists or icons, or to construct identity.

Other exhibits on view at the ICA include works by Tammy Nguyen, on view through Jan. 24, Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, through Feb. 25, and works by Igshaan Adams, on view from Feb. 13 through Feb. 15, 2024. Visiting the ICA is free every Thursday night from 5 to 9 p.m. and free tickets become available at 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings.