Ibrahim Mahama, “Non Orientable Paradise Lost 1667” 2017
Ebony G. Patterson, detail from “...and the dew cracks the
earth, in five acts of lamentation...between the cuts...beneath the
leaves...below the soil...” 2020.
Combining a delightful shuttle ride across Boston Harbor with a captivating exhibition at its site located in the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston (ICA) offers visitors a splendid way to spend a summer day.
Curated by the ICA’s Ruth Erickson and Anni Pullagura, “Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms,” on view through September 5, is, like the facility housing it, a celebration of the power within repurposed objects. Built in the 1930s as a pipe and sheet metal factory and eventually shut down and condemned, the ICA revamped the cavernous building into the ICA Watershed, its showcase for large-scale works of contemporary art.
Displayed inside the mammoth space, works composed of such found materials as cast-off clothing, trash, broken auto lights, bottle caps and other discards hold their own in scale and power as well as poignant intimacy.
Instantly spellbinding are five wall-size panels by Jamaican Ebony G. Patterson, 41, whose three-dimensional collage of cut paper photographic prints conjures the ecstasy and churning cycle of growth and decay within nature. Her assemblage of flowers, birds, and butterflies portrays a paradise that close-up reveals occasional glimpses of partial female figures, such as a smiling face and a headless, ornately clothed torso. Entitled “...and the dew cracks the earth, in five acts of lamentation...between the cuts...beneath the leaves...below the soil...” (2020), the installation echoes ancient rituals that memorialize those who are unseen or overlooked.
Crossing generations as well as geographies, the exhibition includes a wall hanging by Ghanian El Anatsui, 78, renowned for lyrical tapestries composed of discarded bottle caps. Here, his undulating “Area B” (2007) is a shimmering topographic map that creates wonder out of refuse — legions of flattened bottle caps threaded together with copper wire. With its silver and gold palette and intricate beauty, the sculpture inspires contemplation as well as reflection on the convergence of trade, consumerism, and a changing earth.
In her “Heads/Tails: Walker & Broadway 2” (2020), a 44-foot wide by 18-foot high mural, Los Angeles-based
Madeline Hollander, 36, choreographs the flickering patterns of
jewel-like glass shards—fragments of auto head and taillights gathered
from junkyards and collision centers. They blink on and off timed to
sunrise and sunset as well as changes in traffic signals at an
intersection in Manhattan.
A
silent monument to the social and economic history of an urban
community, “Non Orientable Paradise Lost 1667” (2017) by Ghanian Ibrahim
Mahama, 35, repurposes already recycled objects — shoe shiners’ crates
packed with discarded household and street detritus. Stacked into
towers, they gain the power of archeological relics, evidence of human
fragility, persistence, ingenuity, and labor.
While
Mahama’s discards speak for themselves, a tower by Karyn Olivier, 54,
of Trinidad and Tobago, speaks of absences. Conjuring awe out of
everyday garb, Olivier’s 23-foot high structure, “Fortified”
(2018–2022), evokes the unseen presence of the children and adults who
once wore the used clothing that covers her immense brick wall. Built by
hand, brick by brick, and laden with colorful, ordinary clothing,
“Fortified” is both large in scale and intimate, and a tribute to human
vulnerability and strength.
ON THE WEB
Learn more at icaboston.org/exhibitions/ revival-materials-and-monumental-forms