Art News

Vibrant exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston explores intersection of color and the body

BOSTON, MA.- Color is a daily experience; it can communicate our mood, profession, cultural status, nationality and team affiliations—all of which form the basis of our identities and express our emotions. This February, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston opens Figuring Color: Kathy Butterly, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roy McMakin, Sue Williams, a major exhibition exploring the use of color and form to convey ideas about the body. Using vibrant hues and a touch of humor, McMakin’s fleshy chairs mimic the human form, Butterly’s intricate ceramics are rich with bodily humor and desire, Gonzalez-Torres’s installations of candy and plastic beads abstractly evoke physical absence and presence, and Williams’s electrifying canvases convey the viscera of war and politics. Organized by ICA Senior Curator Jenelle Porter, the exhibition features 51 works, including painting, sculpture,