Institute of Contemporary Art
Encyclopedia
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts
. The museum was founded in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art.
Formerly located on Boylston Street
in the Back Bay neighborhood, the ICA moved to a new facility in the Seaport District area of South Boston. The museum celebrated the completion of its new building the weekend of December 9–10, 2006. The new building coincided with the museum's launch of its first permanent collection.
The new building was designed by the architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro
. It is one of that firm's first structures to be built, and the first to be built in the United States. It is also the first new art museum to be built in Boston in over a century.
The building is located between the Courthouse
and World Trade Center
stations on the MBTA Silver Line
.
It is adjacent to Anthony’s Pier 4 restaurant.
s, has been celebrated by many critics for its openness, represented by its exterior grand staircase, and willingness to embrace the surrounding harbor. The ICA was the recipient of the 2007 Harleston Parker Medal
, awarded to "the most beautiful piece of architecture" in Boston. It has also been called a "botched box" by architecture critic Philip Nobel, who criticised it for having poor circulation, a dull facade facing land, and casting into shadow the harborside promenade that Elizabeth Diller once referred to as "Boston’s only viable civic space." http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2681
(2007), Street Level (2008), Anish Kapoor
(2008), Tara Donovan
(2008), Shepard Fairey
(2009), and Mark Bradford
(2011).
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The museum was founded in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art.
Mission
The Institute of Contemporary Art strives to share the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, provocation, and imagination that contemporary art offers through public access to art, artists, and the creative process.New Building
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Another Boylston Street runs through Boston's western suburbs....
in the Back Bay neighborhood, the ICA moved to a new facility in the Seaport District area of South Boston. The museum celebrated the completion of its new building the weekend of December 9–10, 2006. The new building coincided with the museum's launch of its first permanent collection.
The new building was designed by the architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a New York City-based interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Originally founded by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in 1979, the firm is particularly well known for its interdisciplinary approach to...
. It is one of that firm's first structures to be built, and the first to be built in the United States. It is also the first new art museum to be built in Boston in over a century.
The building is located between the Courthouse
Courthouse (MBTA station)
Courthouse Station is a transportation station in Boston, Massachusetts, on the MBTA's Silver Line Waterfront. The station is located on Seaport Boulevard at Pittsburg Street on the South Boston Waterfront.-Accessibility:...
and World Trade Center
World Trade Center (MBTA station)
The World Trade Center station is a transportation station in Boston, Massachusetts, on the MBTA's bus rapid transit Silver Line. The station is located on Congress Street at C Street/World Trade Center Avenue on the South Boston Waterfront...
stations on the MBTA Silver Line
Silver Line (MBTA)
The Silver Line is the only bus rapid transit line currently operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . It operates in two sections; the first runs from Dudley Square in Roxbury to downtown Boston, Massachusetts and South Station, mostly via Washington Street, with buses...
.
It is adjacent to Anthony’s Pier 4 restaurant.
Critical response
The building's design, which echoes that of nearby waterfront gantry craneGantry crane
Gantry cranes, bridge cranes, and overhead cranes, are all types of cranes which lift objects by a hoist which is fitted in a hoist trolley and can move horizontally on a rail or pair of rails fitted under a beam...
s, has been celebrated by many critics for its openness, represented by its exterior grand staircase, and willingness to embrace the surrounding harbor. The ICA was the recipient of the 2007 Harleston Parker Medal
Harleston Parker Medal
The Harleston Parker Medal was established in 1921 by J. Harleston Parker to recognize “such architects as shall have, in the opinion of the Boston Society of Architects. ....
, awarded to "the most beautiful piece of architecture" in Boston. It has also been called a "botched box" by architecture critic Philip Nobel, who criticised it for having poor circulation, a dull facade facing land, and casting into shadow the harborside promenade that Elizabeth Diller once referred to as "Boston’s only viable civic space." http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2681
Exhibitions
The ICA's exhibition program includes the Momentum series, focusing on the work of emerging artists; the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall, an annual, site-specific commission in the museum lobby; the James and Audrey Foster Prize, a biennial exhibition and award for Boston-area artists; and selections from the permanent collection. The West Gallery, the largest exhibition space, has featured solo and group exhibitions including Super Vision (2006), Philip-Lorca diCorciaPhilip-Lorca diCorcia
Philip-Lorca diCorcia is an American photographer. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Afterwards diCorcia attended Yale University where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Photography in 1979. He now lives and works in New York, and teaches at Yale University in New...
(2007), Street Level (2008), Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...
(2008), Tara Donovan
Tara Donovan
Tara Donovan is an American artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is known for site-specific installation art that utilizes everyday materials whose form is in keeping with generative art.-Biography:...
(2008), Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
(2009), and Mark Bradford
Mark Bradford
Mark Bradford is an American artist living and working in Los Angeles.-Life and work:He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, located at Valencia, California, U.S., earning an MFA in 1997 and a BFA in 1995....
(2011).
External links