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Inspired by works from the ICA exhibition i’m yours: Encounters with Art in Our Times, check out these conversation starters to help inspire dialogue in your family. Print, cut out, and use them whenever you need some inspiration.

Visiting the ICA? Open on your mobile device, search for these works, and take turns asking questions as you move through the exhibition. Plan your visit

 

A sculpture of a woman stands with outstretched arms. She is nude from head to waist. The surface of the sculpture is rendered in varied dark tones, with mostly dark greens and browns, and is chipped and freckled in many places. She has no face. Her head is a round open bowl without eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. She wears a large, voluminous skirt. The skirt is made of dried raffia, which is a type of palm tree. She stands at life-size.

What do you do to show your friends and family that you care about them?

 

Simone Leigh, Cupboard IX, 2019.

Stoneware, steel, and raffia, 78 × 60 × 80 inches (198.1 × 152.4 × 203.2 cm). Acquired through the generosity of Bridgitt and Bruce Evans and Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, New York and Los Angeles. © Simone Leigh 

 

A sculpture comprised of a black wooden chair with elongated, spider-like legs that towers in height and is decorated with black feathers, black and silver tinsel, and hair.

If you made a throne for yourself, what would you make it out of?

 

Wangechi Mutu, Blackthrone VIII, 2012.

Wooden chair, plastic, hair, and tinsel. 100 ⅞ x 26 ⅞ x 39 ⅞ inches (256.2 x 68.3 x 101.3 cm). Gift of Jerome and Ellen Stern. Courtesy of the artist © Wangechi Mutu

 

A black-and-white photograph of a light-skinned young woman leaning over the railing of a hospital bed, holding the hand of a frail and pale elderly woman who lays in the bed and looks up at her.

Describe a moment you had with your grandparent(s) that you remember really clearly. 

Nan Goldin, Chrissy with her 100-year-old Grandmother, Provincetown, 1977.

Gelatin silver print, 8 ½ × 11 inches (21.6 × 27.9 cm). Gift of Lillian and Hyman Goldin. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. © Nan Goldin

 

A black-and-white photograph of a person from the waist up wearing a cap and plaid button-up shirt

The artist asked the sitters to pick their clothing, the setting, and their posture. What would you choose if someone was making your portrait?

Zanele Muholi, Hlomela Msesele, Makhaza, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, 2011, from the series Faces and Phases (2006–ongoing).

Gelatin silver print, 34 × 24 inches (86.4 × 61 cm). Acquired through the generosity of the General Acquisition Fund and the Acquisitions Circle. Courtesy of the artist; Yancey Richardson, New York; and Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg. © Zanele Muholi

 

A black-and-white photograph shows the artist, a Black woman, looking directly at the viewer as she stands behind her mother, who is shown in profile and whose head obscures half of the artist's face. Both are wearing hair caps and a curtain is seen in the background.

Who is the family member you admire the most and why? If you were to take a photo with that family member, how would you pose?

LaToya Ruby Frazier, Momme, 2008.

Gelatin silver print, 30 × 40 inches (76.2 × 101.6 cm). Gift of the artist and Michel Rein, Paris/Brussels. Courtesy the artist and Michael Rein, Paris/Brussels. © LaToya Ruby Frazier

 

A sculpture of two glazed white teacups on matching saucers. The cups are fused together to appear conjoined, as are the saucers.

Let’s pretend we’re drinking from this cup together. How would we move our bodies and hold the cup to share what’s inside? 

Mona Hatoum, T42, 1993-1998.

Fine stoneware in 2 parts, 2 3/16 x 9 ½ x 5 ½ inches (5.7 x 24.1 x 14 cm). Gift of Barbara Lee, The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women. Courtesy Alexander and Bonin and White Cube. Photo by Iain Dickens. © Mona Hatoum 

 

A drawing on paper depicts a Black man relaxing in a tiled bathtub with art objects including two masks and a rendering of two Black men in colorful suits hanging on adjacent walls behind the tub.

What do you like to do to relax? 

 

Toyin Ojih Odutola, Heir Apparent, 2018.

Pastel, charcoal, and pencil on paper, 63 ¼ x 42 inches (160.7 x 106.7 cm). Acquired through the generosity of the Acquisitions Circle. © Toyin Ojih Odutola

 

A color photograph shows two Black women posing together in cluttered living space. One raises her zebra-print dress to expose a prosthetic leg. The other is in a floral swimsuit. Both have their hair pulled back and smile toward the viewer.

The objects found in homes can give clues about the people who live there. What is an object in your home that might give a clue about who you are and what or who is important to you?

 

Deana Lawson, Barbara and Mother, 2017.

Pigmented inkjet print, 69 × 55 inches (175.3 × 139.7 cm). General Acquisition Fund. © Deana Lawson

 

This activity was developed by Amy Briggs Kemeza, Tour Programs Manager; Flolynda Jean, Education Assistant, Studio Programs; Jessie Miyu Magyar, School and Family Programs Manager; Brooke Scibelli, Family and Art Lab Programs Coordinator; and Kris Wilton, Director of Creative Content and Digital Engagement.