11 Books and Exhibits for Your Summer 2017 Design Fix

Here’s where to go and what to read.

EXHIBITS

design books exhibits boston summer 2017

Photograph courtesy of Lanoue Gallery

Total Recall

Newbury painter Robin Beaty tackles the complex subject of memory in a provocative new exhibition at Lanoue Gallery. Some 15 of Beaty’s mixed-media images, meticulously crafted with heated wax-based paint and found objects, are on display through July.

6/15–7/23, 450 Harrison Ave., #31, Boston, 617-262-4400, lanouefineart.com.

design books exhibits boston summer 2017

Photograph by Megan Paetzhold (Detail of T-24-L, by Shih Chieh Huang, 2017, Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York)

Hidden Treasures

Sometimes inspiration comes from the unlikeliest of places. Just ask Taiwanese artist Shih Chieh Huang, whose interactive sculptural installations—on view at the Worcester Art Museum—are built with such materials as painter’s plastic and box fans.

6/24–11/11, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508-799-4406, worcesterart.org.

design books exhibits boston summer 2017

Image via Peabody Essex Museum (Frankenstein, 1931, printed by Morgan Lithograph Company, Collection of Kirk Hammett. Courtesy of Universal Pictures Licensing, LLC. Photo by Heritage Auctions, HA.com)

Monsters of Rock

So what does a heavy-metal legend like Metallica’s Kirk Hammett do in his spare time? Collect classic sci-fi and horror-film memorabilia, of course. Starting this August, the guitarist shares 90 vintage movie posters and other genre relics in an exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum.

8/12–11/26, 161 Essex St., Salem, 978-745-9500, pem.org.

“Aqueous Perceptions”

Just in time for summer, Chase Young Gallery presents an apt collection of water-themed works by mixed-media artist Kathryn Frund and painters Wayne McDowell and Enrique Santana.

7/7–7/31, 450 Harrison Ave., #57, Boston, 617-859-7222, chaseyounggallery.com.

“Expanding Abstraction: New England Women Painters, 1950 to Now”

This deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum exhibition celebrates the accomplishments, processes, and techniques of local female artists such as Barbara Takenaga and Maud Morgan.

Runs through 9/17, 51 Sandy Pond Rd., Lincoln, 781-259-8355, decordova.org.

“Louise Bourgeois”

Artistic powerhouse Louise Bourgeois dabbled in everything from drawing and painting to textiles and installations during her decades-long career. A selection of her marble sculptures, one weighing more than 10 tons, comes to Mass MoCA this spring.

Opens 5/28, 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, 413-662-2111, massmoca.org.

BOOKS

design books exhibits boston summer 2017

Photograph by Dominic Sansoni

Green Days

A pioneer in the realm of location-specific design, the late Geoffrey Bawa is widely considered to be one of the most important modern architects in his native Sri Lanka. In Bawa: The Sri Lanka Gardens, writer David Robson chronicles Bawa’s lesser-known landscaping achievements through a series of photo essays.

Out 6/6, $30, Thames & Hudson.

design books exhibits boston summer 2017

Photograph courtesy of HarperCollins

Writing Style

Great writers don’t just change the way we see the world, they change the way we dress. That’s the idea, anyway, behind Terry Newman’s Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore, a new hardcover that explores the influential fashion sensibilities of 50 wordsmiths, including Truman Capote, Joan Didion, and T.S. Eliot.

Out 6/27, $30, HarperCollins.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Unpacking the Archive, edited by Barry Bergdoll and Jennifer Gray

In commemoration of Wright’s 150th birthday, this new text offers an academic reexamination of the architect’s work and legacy.

Out 6/27, $65, Museum of Modern Art.

Han Sungpil, by Han Sungpil

Korean shutterbug Han Sungpil artfully examines energy production and other modern environmental issues in this eponymous hardcover.

Out 6/27, $60, Hatje Cantz.

I Only Have Eyes for You, by Alice Harris

It’s all about those baby blues in Alice Harris’s new themed hardcover, which features artworks and photographs that highlight the inherent beauty and mystique of eyes.

Out 8/22, $30, PowerHouse Books.