Things to Do This Week in Boston

Jump to: | Monday, May 13 | Tuesday, May 14 | Wednesday, May 15 | Thursday, May 16 | Friday, May 17 | Saturday, May 18 | Sunday, May 19 | Monday, May 20 | Art & Exhibitions | Upcoming |

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MULTIPLE DAYS
Ongoing through Monday, May 20 (and Beyond)

FESTIVALS

Boston Night Market
Inspired by the famous night markets of Asia, this two-day event, now in its fifth year, features all sorts of vendors, a diverse array of food choices, carnival games, performances, a beer garden, and more. Despite the name, only Saturday’s half takes place in the evening—Sunday’s will be in the afternoon. Pro tip: come with some cash—not all vendors take cards.
$15-$50, Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Plaza, Boston

THEATER

Morning, Noon, and Night
Company One teams up with Boston University’s College of Fine Arts to present this play from celebrated local playwright Kirsten Greenidge, a tale of parent-child tension, the porous border between real life and the strange realm of the Internet, and the feeling of post-pandemic life.
Pay-what-you-can, through May 25, Plaza Theater, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., Boston

Romeo and Juliet
Actors’ Shakespeare Project mounts a new production of what may be Shakespeare’s most popular play with an eye for the issues of contemporary youth, promising to “thrill even those who fell asleep reading it in sophomore English class.” Marianna Bassham directs.
$20-$59.50, Friday, May 10 through June 2, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston

Mermaid Hour
Moonbox Productions returns with David Valdes’ tale of Pilar and Bird, uncertain parents to a trans middle schooler, and the kid herself, Vi, who’s impatient for them to get on the level about everything—but equally impatient to win the attention of her crush and make a name for herself on social media.
$45-$55, through May 19, Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge

A Strange Loop
The Huntington Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective join forces for this local production of Michael R. Jackson’s brilliantly meta, Pulitzer-winning musical about Usher, a writer who’s writing about a writer writing about a writer. Its Broadway version won the 2022 Tony for Best Musical.
$25-$80, through May 25, Virginia Wimberly Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston

DANCE

BABYBABYBABY
Laila J. Franklin, one of two current Dancemakers Residents at the Boston Center for the Arts, choreographed this evening-length piece reflecting on the early head-over-heels feelings of a love affair. Beneath this theme, Franklin also comments on trends in contemporary dance.
$25, Thursday through Sunday, May 16-19, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston

DANCE NOW Boston
This two-part series, bringing together the dance worlds of New York City and Boston, concludes this weekend with The Bang Group and drag tap performer Felipe Galganni, representing NYC, and Joe Gonzalez, Audrey MacLean, and Boston Dance Theater’s Trainee Program, representing the our dearly beloved Hub.
$25, through Sunday, May 19, The Dance Complex, 536 Mass. Ave., Cambridge

Boston Ballet: Spring Experience
Experience a trio of contemporary ballets: William Forsythe’s boundary-pushing Blake Works III (The Barre Project), created for the Boston Ballet two years ago; Jiří Kylián’s elegant meditation Bella Figura; and an untitled world premiere from Ken Ossola, inspired by Michelangelo’s unfinished Prisoners series.
$25-$205, through Sunday, May 19, Citizens Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston

COMEDY

Amanda Seales
Best known as the bougie Tiffany on HBO’s Insecure, Amanda Seales released her debut comedy special, I Be Knowin’, in 2019. In this clip, she discusses the often untold experiences of womanhood, from the relief if taking off your bra at the end of the day to the necessity of becoming “a menstrual MacGyver.”
$25-$75, Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston

Zach Brazão
Though he’s based in New York City, Zach Brazão admits that his accent gives him away as a Boston homeboy. He’s a fine practitioner of good natured snark, whether he’s arguing that white people deserve a bit of praise for inventing chocolate chip cookies or joking about being forced to become his barber’s therapist.
$22, Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, Nick’s Comedy Stop, 100 Warrenton St., Boston

MUSIC

Jukebox the Ghost
Despite their name being a combination of artsy references to Captain Beefheart and Vladimir Nabokov, indie trio Jukebox the Ghost are about big pop anthems, with more than a flair for the theatrical. On each night of this three-night residency at the Sinclair, they’ll play a different one of their first three albums in full.
$20-$150, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 16-18, The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge

MOVIES

Back to Black
The pop culture machine seems to work ever more swiftly, so that already, just 13 years after her untimely death, there’s already a biopic about Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela). Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shade of Grey) directs; Matt Greenhalgh’s screenplay covers the full and ultimately tragic arc of her career.
$12.99-$17.49, opens Thursday, May 16, Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd., Boston

Babes
This comedy from director Pamela Adlon concerns a pair of long-term besties (Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau) whose relationship comes to blows over the decision of one of them to have a child conceived during a one-night stand, without support from the father.
$13.50-$15.50, opens Friday, May 17, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

Evil Does Not Exist
Takumi, a widower, and his daughter Hana live in a secluded, pristine rural Japanese village whose peace is disturbed when a real estate company starts making moves toward building a luxury retreat for the urban upper crust in this film from writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car).
$12-$16, opens Friday, May 17, Somerville Theater, 55 Davis Sq., Somerville

Hallyu Hits: Korean Films that Moved the World
As a companion to Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the Museum of Fine Arts presents a monthlong selection of some of the biggest cinematic hits from South Korean directors, including Oldboy, Parasite, Burning, Poetry, Train to Busan, and Snowpiercer, as well as several films by and about diasporic Koreans, including Past Lives and Minari.
$15, Thursday, May 16 through June 14, Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston

Aggro Dr1ft
From the abnormal mind of notorious director Harmony Korine comes this action-packed flick that follows a Miami hitman as he pursues his latest target. In a striking move, Korine shot everything with a thermal lens, lending a surreal, rainbow-hued look to this tale of a world that knows nothing of the law.
$14.49, opens Friday, May 10, Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd., Boston

I Saw the TV Glow
Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, who disturbingly depicted the intersection between adolescence and online culture in 2021’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, is back with this vivid, ’90s-set follow-up, which continues their exploration of youth, media obsession, and the boundaries between fiction and reality.
$13.50-$15.50, opens Friday, May 10, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

The Fall Guy
Veteran Hollywood stuntman-turned-director David Leitch brings us the story of Colt (Ryan Gosling), a stuntman eager to get back to work after being injured. But when the film’s lead actor goes missing, this fake hero is forced to become a real one.
$12.99-$16.49, Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd., Boston

The Old Oak
An unlikely friendships forms in this British drama between the middle-aged, white English owner of a mining town pub that’s seen better days and a young photographer from a recently-arrived community of Syrian refugees.
$13.50-$15.50, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

Challengers
Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name) is back with this tale of Tashi (Zendaya), an injured tennis wunderkind. These days, the closest she can get to the court is coaching her husband, Art (Mike Faist). The tension is more than athletic: Art’s next challenger, Patrick, is his ex-bestie—and Tashi’s ex-lover.
$12.99-$16.49, Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd., Boston

Civil War
Dispensing with any tedious backstory, director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) throws his audience right into the middle of a full-blown 21^st century war between an America led by an authoritarian president (Nick Offerman) and a handful of breakaway states. We experience the action through the eyes of journalists, including photographer Lee, played by Kirsten Dunst.
$12-$16, Somerville Theater, 55 Davis Sq., Somerville

Wicked Little Letters
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley star, respectively, as Edith, old-fashioned townie, and Rose, a spunky Irish newcomer, in this period comedy mystery, set in an English coastal town about a century ago. When an apparent prankster starts sending everyone obscene letters, everyone suspects Rose—until evidence suggests that the truth is not so simple.
$13.50-$15.50, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

Monkey Man
Dev Patel co-wrote, directed and stars in this intense action thriller about a professional fight-thrower in India who transforms into a righteous vigilante, determined to avenge his mother’s murder, after taking inspiration from the story of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman.
$10.99-$14.49, Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd., Boston

Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve’s immersive adaptation of Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi novel comes to a thrilling conclusion in its long-awaited second half, in which Timothée Chalamet—ahem, Paul Atreides—leads the Fremen in a battle to re-take the planet Aarrakis from the villainous and extremely pale Harkonnen dynasty.
$22.25, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

Perfect Days
Wim Wenders’ newest film drops in on the life of Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho), a solitary Japanese man who cleans Tokyo’s rather stunningly designed public toilets for a living. It may not seem like a desirable job, but the endearing Hirayama approaches it, and the rest of his unexpectedly full life, with passion and wisdom.
$13.50-$15.50, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline

TOURS

View Boston
If you’ve got visitors and you want to give them a killer 360-degree view of the city, or if you just want a peep yourself, you can hardly do better than View Boston, at the top of the Prudential Center. You can spring for a guided tour or just take it in yourself. The view isn’t all you’ll find up there—there’s also a restaurant, The Beacon, and Stratus, a cocktail bar. Higher-level ticket packages include a sample drink.
$29.99-59.99, open daily, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., Boston

The Innovation Trail
This new tour focuses not on colonial and revolutionary Boston—that’s been thoroughly covered—but on the city’s history, down to the present, as a hub of science, medicine, and technology. You can pay for a guided tour on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday through the end of October, or opt for a self-guided experience whenever you want.
Free-$20, now open, starts in Central Square, Cambridge or Downtown Crossing, Boston

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TUESDAY (5/14/24)

MOVIES

Pulp Fiction
The Brattle wraps up its series Long Live Film! The Art of Collecting with one more 35mm screening of the 1994 postmodern masterpiece that cemented Quentin Tarantino as an auteur to be reckoned with, revived the careers of John Travolta and Bruce Willis, made icons of Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, and had everyone wondering what the hell was in that suitcase.
$14.50, 8 p.m., Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge

BOOKS + READINGS

Colm Tóibín
The lauded Irish novelist (Brooklyn, The Master, The Magician) discusses his latest, Long Island, about Ellis, a middle aged first-generation Irish immigrant living in the titular New York region with her husband Tony, an Italian American, and their two kids—not so unusual, perhaps, until a stranger comes to her door to announce that his wife his is pregnant with Tony’s child.
$12-$38, 6 p.m., Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge

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WEDNESDAY (5/15/24)

BOOKS + READINGS

Miranda July
The multi-talented Miranda July, known for fiction titles The First Bad Man and No One Belongs Here More Than You and films like Kajillionaire and Me and You and Everyone We Know, is back with All Fours, the tale of an artist who takes an early and fateful tangent on a cross-continental road trip.
$38 (book included), 6 p.m., Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge

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THURSDAY (5/16/24)

MUSIC

The Soul Rebels
This musically omnivorous New Orleans brass band has collaborated with a wild range of artists, from Metallica to Katy Perry to Robert Glasper to Kanye West to Lauryn Hill to CeeLo Green to Arcade Fire to—well, you get the idea. Through it all, they have never once failed to bring the party. Their newest album is Poetry in Motion.
$35, 7 p.m., Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville

Wild Child
Formed around the core of singer-violinist Kelsey Wilson and singer-ukulele player Alexander Beggins, folksy indie pop act Wild Child emerged from Austin, Texas in the early 2010s and found their greatest success to date with 2015’s Fools. Last year they released their first album in five years, End of the World.
$25-$39.25, 8 pm., Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., Boston

COMEDY

Reg Thomas
Reg Thomas is a talented storyteller. A couple examples: this Too Funny Tuesday clip where he attends “a Friendsgiving that turned out to be an orgy,” and another, quicker anecdote from Don’t Tell Comedy, in which he recounts a wedding gig that he made slightly awkward with his song selection.
$25, 8 p.m., Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston

MAGIC

Asi Wind
One of the country’s hottest magicians, Asi Wind has been featured on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and awarded the prestigious Magician of the Year by Los Angeles’ legendary Magic Castle. Inner Circles, his off-Broadway show, had its run extended several times. This new show, Incredibly Human, mixes mind-blowing mentalism and illusions.
$55-$105, 7:39 p.m., The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston

CULTURE

How We’ll Live: Sustainable Lifestyles of the Future
Sustainability has an ecological urgency, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look great too—or even taste great. This event offers a look at the diverse contemporary approaches to sustainability, with a panel of figures from the worlds of food, arts, and culture, as well as a fashion show, performances, and more.
Free, 7 p.m., Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston

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FRIDAY (5/17/24)

MUSIC

Galantis
Originally a duo, Galantis has been the project of Swedish DJ-producer Bloodshy for several years. His fourth album under the moniker, Rx, drops Friday, and he just so happens to be in Boston to celebrate. For a sneak peek, check out the lamenting but effervescent breakup song “Dust.”
$72.95, 9:30 p.m., Big Night Live, 110 Causeway St., Boston

Madeleine Peyroux
Often compared to her forebear Edith Piaf, American-born jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux got her start busking on the streets of Paris, and it was only a matter of time before her timeless voice caught the attention of the record labels. Her newest album, Let’s Walk, arrives June 28, but you’ll most likely get a preview at this show.
$55-$65, 8 p.m., The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston

COMEDY

Justin Silver
Justin Silver has appeared in Hulu’s High Fidelity, Netflix’s The Sinner, and many other places on TV; he also hosts the podcast Himbos. If his speech sounds compulsive, that’s not entirely off base—he’s been frank (and funny) about his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, which has a way of interrupting even his most intimate moments.
$25-$35, 7:30 p.m., White Bull Tavern, 1 Union St., Boston

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SATURDAY (5/18/24)

ART PARTY
Boston Art Review‘s Issue 12 Launch Party + Annual Art Sale

Midway Artist Studios, 15 Channel Center Street, Boston

MUSIC

The String Cheese Incident
“The enjoyment of the audience in attendance at an Incident always takes priority over recording efforts,” declares this iconic Colorado outfit’s website, summing up with tongue-in-cheek formality the fundamental jam band ethos. Apart from a two-year hiatus, the beloved sextet has been truckin’ for over 30 years.
$61.59-$190, 7:15 p.m., MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Lansdowne St., Boston

The Avett Brothers
One of the most successful acts of their generation to tap into the perennially rich vein of Americana, North Carolina siblings Scott and Seth Avett emerged in the 2000s and built a devoted following on the strength of their heartfelt songwriting. Their new, self-titled album drops Friday; it first single is the almost manically upbeat rocker “Love of a Girl.”
$65, 7 p.m., The Stage at Suffolk Downs, 525 William F McClellan Hwy, East Boston

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
Arriving at a unique jazz-rock fusion from a background in post-hardcore music (their rhythm section is the same as Fugazi’s), Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics are an instrumental beast unto themselves, and the addition saxophonist James Brandon Lewis sends the whole thing over the moon. Be sure to catch this show’s opener, Boston punk legend Roger Miller (Mission of Burma).
$20-$22, 8 p.m., Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Sq., Somerville

COMEDY

Robyn Schall
Two-thirds of the way through that cursed year 2020, Robyn Schall realized her goals list for the year, written in the unknowing optimism of the previous December, had become laughably irrelevant. Her sadly (but amusingly) relatable video on the topic went wildly viral, launching a now-busy comedy career.
$39-$49, 7 p.m., The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston

Kevin James
The once and future King of Queens—and, as of last year, certified meme—is back, touring on the heels of his latest comedy special, Irregardless, released in January to Amazon Prime. In this clip, he persuasively makes the case that we’re all living, psychologically, on the constant edge of disaster—and somehow, he makes it funny.
$63-$252, 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Chevalier Theater, 30 Forest St., Medford

GOING OUT

Dancing on the Charles
It’s getting warmer again, and it’s about time to celebrate. Montreal deep house DJ Fred Everything headlines this marathon outdoor dance party, running from late afternoon into the night, with opening sets from Adam Gibbons, JUJU, DJ Frantic, and Driscoll.
$40-$45.70, 3 p.m.-11 p.m., American Legion Marsh Post #442, 198 Greenough Blvd; Cambridge

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SUNDAY (5/19/24)

MUSIC

Guppy
This bright, humorous, surprisingly grooved-out Los Angeles indie pop act arrives in Somerville a couple days after the release of their new album Something Is Happening… Frontperson J Lebow’s geeky vocals, sometimes reminiscent of Jeffrey Lewis or Kimya Dawson, may not be every listener’s cup of tea, but those on the wavelength may have just found their new favorite band.
$15, 8 p.m., The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville

KID-FRIENDLY

Revere Beach Kite Festival
Beach season begins in Revere with this skyward tradition, now in its eighth year. Kids can build their own kites and/or watch professional kite flyers send their craft into the atmosphere. There will also be live music and other activities.
Free, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Revere Beach, 410 Revere Beach Blvd., Revere

SHOPPING

SoWa Open Market
This popular Sunday event features dozens of vendors selling their own jewelry, clothing, household items, art, and more, plus special performances and events, a chance to check out the open studios of dozens of local artists, and a rotating selection of food trucks. It runs every Sunday through October 27.
Free, 11 a.m-4 p.m., 500 Harrison Ave., Boston

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MONDAY (5/20/24)

MUSIC

Echo & the Bunnymen
Of all British new wave bands, Echo & the Bunnymen might have the most new wave name origin story—Echo, it was apocryphally said, was actually their drum machine. While they’re arguably best known stateside for their gloomy hit “The Killing Moon”, their actual sound was closer to neo-psychedelia—an edgier revision of 60s pop daydreams for a more cynical age.
$62-$417.38, 8 p.m., Citizens House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St., Boston

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ART + EXHIBITIONS (Ongoing)

Imagine Me and You: Dutch and Flemish Encounters with the Islamic World, 1450–1750
Bringing together 120 objects in a variety of media, this exhibition tells a story of peaceful cultural exchange between the European Christian Low Countries and the Muslim Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, complicating simplistic narratives of conflict and tension in the era.
Free, Sunday, May 18 through August 18, Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

Firelei Báez
Back in 2021, the Dominican-born Firelei Báez wowed visitors to the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Watershed, where she filled the huge East Boston warehouse space with a dreamlike installation combining West African indigo printing and Caribbean Sea imagery with a massive replica of the ruins of Haiti’s Sans-Souci Palace. Now she has her first museum retrospective at the ICA celebrating her paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works. The pieces, which meld Afro-Caribbean, folklore, sci-fi, and historical themes, may be smaller scale, but they pack the same visual and conceptual punch. —MATTHEW REED BAKER
through September 2, Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Boston

Dress Up
With more than 100 pieces of clothing, jewelry, accessories, and photos and illustrations going back more than a century, this show examines the ever-shifting meaning of fashion in our lives as a mode of both personal and political expression.
$27, through September 2, Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston

Songs for Modern Japan
The Museum of Fine Arts casts a spotlight on an obscure artistic subject: the covers of Japanese sheet music collections in the first half of the 20th century, which provided opportunities for graphic designers to explore popular movements like Art Nouveau, and, later on, served as real estate for imperial propaganda.
$27, through September 2, Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston

Framing Freedom: The Harriet Hayden Albums
Take a unique look at the lives of Boston’s Black abolitionist community through these selections from the photo albums of Harriet Bell Hayden, who escaped from enslavement in Kentucky with her family in 1844. Their new home on Beacon Hill served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
$10, through June 22, Boston Athenaeum, 10½ Beacon Street, Boston

Hallyu! The Korean Wave
It might seem as if South Korea’s global cultural influence—Parasite, Squid Game, a K-pop group visiting the White House—is a recent phenomenon, but, the Museum of Fine Arts hopes to prove with this exhibition that it’s been brewing for years, and that today’s tastemakers have a strong sense of their national artistic history.
$34, through July 28, Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston

See also: The MFA’s “Korean Wave” Exhibition Is Thrilling

Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.
Drawing from the collections of more than twenty different museums and other institutions, this powerful travelling exhibition displays hundreds of photographs and objects—shoes, uniforms, bits of architecture, even a gas mask used by a camp officer—connected to the most notorious of the Nazi death factories.
$34.95, through September 2, The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza, 130 Columbus Ave., Boston

LaToya M. Hobbs: It’s Time
This show collects, for the first time, the complete Carving Out Time series of woodcuts by Baltimore-based artist LaToya M. Hobbs. Depicting a single day in her own life, each panel is dense with the ephemera of identity, showing the various roles she plays as an artist, mother, wife, and teacher.
Free, through July 21, Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

Future Minded: New Works in the Collection
Harvard Arts Museums shows off some of their latest acquisitions, many by living artists, some centuries old, all reflecting shifts in the institution’s views of history and its impact on the conditions of the present. Artists include Jean (Hans) Arp, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Willie Cole, Svenja Deininger, Baldwin Lee, Lucia Moholy, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Noriko Saitō, Melissa Shook, and many others.
Free, through July 21, Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

Our Time on Earth
Bringing together 12 installations from around the world, including such exotic experiences as a magnified look at plankton, a dive into the layers of a tree, and an interspecies dinner, this exhibition from London’s Barbican Centre aspires to a future in which humans coexist peacefully with their environment.
$20, through June 9, Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem

Wu Tsang: Of Whales
Worcester native Wu Tsang brings one part of her trilogy inspired by Moby-Dick to the Institute of Contemporary Art with this immersive installation that uses extended reality technology to try to get inside the mind of a sperm whale, creating a “lush, dreamy oceanscape.”
$20, through August 4, Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Boston

Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And
Wellesley College’s Davis Museum hosts the first major career-spanning exhibition for alum Lorraine O’Grady, a multidisciplinary artist and writer who’s spent decades exploring the construction of Black womanhood, diasporic consciousness, and other socio-political concerns, particularly through the diptych, which she uses to hold and stage the tensions between contradictory ideas and self-concepts.
Free, through June 2, Davis Museum, 106 Central Street, Wellesley

Destiny Doorways
Using botanical imagery to depict the pathways of life, this installation by Mithsuca Berry engages the viewer with opportunities to reflect on where they’ve been and where they’re headed. You’ll get to choose from a variety of media to make your your own art in response, adding it to the chorus of other visitor responses.
$20, through June 15, Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Boston

WNDR Museum
This new gallery space in Downtown Crossing is hitting the ground running with iconic Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Let’s Survive Forever and more than 20 other immersive installations, including The Wisdom Project, where visitors can add their own response to the question “What do you know for sure?,” and WNDR’s signature Light Floor, which changes in response to visitors’ movement.
$32-$38, 500 Washington St., Boston

Wordplay
The Institute of Contemporary Art has mined its own collection for work highlighting the use of words in visual art, with pieces from Kenturah Davis, Taylor Davis, Joe Wardwell, Rivane Neuenschwander, Shepard Fairey, Jenny Holzer, Glenn Ligon, and more.
$20, through January 5, 2025, Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Boston

The Lost Generation: Women Ceramicists and the Cuban Avant-Garde
Boston College’s McMullen Museum explores the unsung work of the women of the Taller de Santiago de las Vegas, a ceramics workshop near Havana, during the Cuban revolutionary era. Their striking modernist designs made a deep impression on a group of much better-known male painters and brought greater prestige to the art of ceramics in Cuba.
Free, through June 2, McMullen Museum of Art, 2101 Comm. Ave., Brighton

Day One DNA: 50 Years in Hip-Hop Culture
Featuring more than 200 objects, including studio reels, photos, party fliers, magazines, custom clothing, jewelry, recording equipment, and more from the archives of Ice-T and DJ Afrika Islam, this show looks at hip hop history both from a personal perspective and in its wider cultural context.
Free, through May 31, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, 102 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge

The Myth of Normal
Featuring the work of MassArt alumni to celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary, this multimedia exhibition examines what happens when dysfunctional modes of thoughts and behavior become norms, and how the self-expressive potential of art can provide relief from the sometimes-damaging pressure to be “normal.”
Free, through May 19, MassArt Art Museum, 621 Huntington Ave., Boston

Surveillance: From Vision to Data
If you’ve ever seen an ad online for something you only mentioned in conversation, you know you’re being watched—and your phone is just one of the more recent tools of the trade. This exhibition examines some historic instruments of surveillance, showing how they’ve been used, in the eerie words of its synopsis, “to transform individuals and landscapes into data.”
Free, through June 22, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge

“Bats!”
The Peabody Essex Museum would certainly win the award for Salem’s Best Halloween Museum Exhibition (if only it existed!) with its latest extravaganza. For starters, the PEM has gathered various pop-culture artifacts and artworks celebrating our favorite winged mammals by contemporary talents such as Somerville painter Resa Blatman and Argentine papercraftsman Juan Nicolás Elizalde. But the exhibition also has a natural-history element to it, stressing how bats are, in fact, indicator species that reveal the health of the environment around us. Best of all, visitors get to meet a small colony of real live Egyptian fruit bats, who are as adorable as they are fascinating. —MATTHEW REED BAKER
$20 (non-member general admission), through July 28, Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem

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UPCOMING

2024

May 2024

• May 13, 2024-May 14, 2024. Mannequin Pussy at the Sinclair (52 Church St., Cambridge).

• Tuesday, May 28.
  • Kathleen Hanna: Rebel Girl Book Tour at the Wilbur Theater (246 Tremont St., Boston). [Info]
  • Shannon and the Clams at the Sinclair (52 Church St., Cambridge).

June 2024

• Wednesday, June 5. Of Montreal at the Sinclair (52 Church St., Cambridge).
• June 8. Boston Kids Comics Fest returns with another round of workshops and roundtables that aim to foster the next generation of cartoonists and comic-book illustrators. This one-day event, held at Northeastern’s Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex on June 8, will feature lectures by graphic novelists who are well-known stars to any schoolkid these days, such as Bad Kitty’s Nick Bruel, Amulet’s Kazu Kibuishi, and Lauren Tarshis of the popular I Survived series. Best of all, the festival has set aside quiet spaces, so your budding Stan Lee or Alison Bechdel can get some creative work done. bostonkidscomicsfest.org. —Matthew Reed Baker
• June 10. Allie X at the Sinclair (52 Church St., Cambridge).

July 2024

• July 17, 2024. The 50th anniversary of Best of Boston Soirée @ Roadrunner, 89 Guest St., Boston.

Want to suggest an event? Email us.

 

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