The ICA Watershed presents Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms, an exhibition of large-scale installations by international artists who reclaim industrial and everyday materials.
Inspired by the Watershed building’s mixed-use history—built in the 1930s as a copper pipe and sheet metal manufacturing plant and renovated by the ICA in 2018 as a free site for contemporary art—this exhibition highlights how artists have derived inspiration from industry, labor, and the poetic and political power of found goods. Artists include El Anatsui, Madeline Hollander, Ibrahim Mahama, Karyn Olivier, Ebony G. Patterson, and Joe Wardwell, who make visible the often invisible forces that shape human experience.
For some, recycled objects expand ideas of materiality and industry in daily life: Anatsui collects bottle caps and other refuse to form glittering, tapestry-like sculptures; Hollander programs automobile head and taillights to blink with the movement of traffic; and Patterson makes intricate collages of flowers, birds, butterflies, and figures. Olivier and Mahama collect used clothing and crates, respectively, to build towering sculptures that reflect on human persistence, labor, and ingenuity. Wardwell, a Boston-based artist, will create a new, site-specific installation in dialogue with the rich history of labor songs. Together, these artworks capture the power of reuse, resilience, and reclamation, celebrating a revival of the everyday at monumental scale.
Organized by Ruth Erickson, Mannion Family Curator, with Anni Pullagura, Curatorial Assistant.
Exhibition 26 May -05 September 2022. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive - Boston, MA 02210 (United States). T +1 617 478 3100. Hours: Tue-Wed-Sat-Sun 10 am–5 pm - Thu-Fri 10 am–9 pm. Closed Mondays
