Re-visit nine decades of the ICA’s groundbreaking presentations and initiatives including the return of Yayoi Kusama’s LOVE IS CALLING, a re-staging of Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and much more.
(Boston, MA—Sept. 10, 2026) On Oct. 15, 2026, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA) launches a museum-wide celebration of its 90th anniversary with a special performance season and 90 YEARS, an exhibition highlighting pivotal moments across nine decades. Founded in 1936 as a sister institution to The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the ICA is one of the oldest museums in the United States dedicated to contemporary art. Throughout its history, the museum has sought to connect its audience with the art and ideas of our time—from European and Mexican modernists in the 1940s to the intermedia experiments of Andy Warhol in the 1960s to leading artists like Yayoi Kusama and Simone Leigh today. The ICA’s anniversary will be marked by a dynamic lineup of events and performances, including the return of Bill T. Jones and the Arnie Zane Company, a re-staging of Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and much more. Organized by all the ICA’s curators, 90 YEARS will be on view from Oct. 15, 2026, through March 7, 2027.
“The ICA has always been an institution that looks forward,” said Nora Burnett Abrams, Ellen Matilda Poss Director at the ICA. “This anniversary season both celebrates the museum’s rich history and looks towards its bright future, as a courageous and creative space for audiences to engage with the most relevant and ambitious art and ideas of our time.”
“90 YEARS reimagines the standard historical survey as a series of encounters with pivotal moments in the ICA’s history,” said Ruth Erickson, Barbara Lee Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the ICA. “The exhibition revisits a defining exhibition or initiative from each decade, presenting artworks in dialogue with archival materials. New commissions and interactive experiences invite visitors to experience the ICA’s dynamic past and to imagine and be a part of its next chapter.”
The exhibition begins with an introduction to the places, people, and projects that have shaped the ICA’s history, including a display of archival documents related to the museum’s founding in 1936 and early history as an institution, including its 13 former homes across Boston. Over the decades, the ICA has occupied a range of spaces—from storefronts on Newbury Street to its first purpose-built building along the Charles River and its long-standing home on Boylston Street. In 2006, the ICA moved into its current building and made a significant decision to start a permanent collection as another means of supporting living artists. 90 YEARS traces the museum’s nomadic evolution in a newly designed map that highlights specific sites and their demonstration of the museum’s courageous and nimble nature.
Exhibition Sections:
Modern Mexican Painters (Nov.–Dec. 1941) was the first time that many audiences in the United States were able to see work from Mexico’s vibrant contemporary painting scene, led by artists from the Mexican muralismo movement. Presented in the museum’s fourth location, a townhouse on Beacon Street, this exhibition surveyed the continuities and ruptures within Mexican painting traditions. Works from the 1941 exhibition, including José Clemente Orozco’s The Subway, 1928; David Alfaro Siquieros’s The Sob, 1939; and María Izquierdo’s Circus Ponies, 1940, will be included in 90 YEARS, providing an early example of the ICA’s commitment to cultural exchange in its exhibition program.
Design in Industry (Oct.–Nov. 1952), an exhibition organized by former ICA director James S. Plaut, celebrated the museum’s Department of Industrial Design, an initiative he established after returning from service in World War II, during which Plaut also served as one of the Monuments Men and Women. The Department was a decade-long experimental consultation service that paired largely New England-based designers with manufacturers to make beautiful and functional everyday objects. Archival images from this era will be featured in dialogue with newly commissioned weavings by contemporary artist Clarissa Tossin. Tossin’s works offer a counterpoint to the industrial optimism of the 1950s, bringing the consequences of global manufacturing and exchange to the forefront by utilizing materials like recycled shipping boxes in her works.
Andy Warhol’s 1966 survey (Oct.–Nov. 1966) was the iconic pop artist’s second museum exhibition. It included the artist’s most important screenprints and site-specific works, and premiered Warhol and the Velvet Underground’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable—a groundbreaking performance combining live music, dance, and projected video. On Dec. 11, the ICA re-imagines Exploding Plastic Inevitable in “The Inevitable Return: Exploding Plastic Revisited,” a museum-wide re-staging of this multimedia performance that has been called one of the greatest concerts in Boston history. In the galleries, 90 YEARS will present Warhol’s immersive installation, Silver Clouds, 1966. Described by Warhol as “floating paintings,” these interactive, floating balloons continue to be relevant in today’s increasingly surveilled and mirrored world.
Seven Sculptors: New Involvement with Materials (Feb.–March 1974), included work by seven artists that explored novel materials and the expanded field of sculpture. While focusing on material, the 1974 exhibition also marked an early presentation of artists who are now important figures of the feminist art movement including Jackie Ferrara, Ree Morton, and Hannah Wilke. In re-staging select works from this show, 90 YEARS re-visits the work of women artists who developed key strains of artmaking, including land, installation, body, and post-minimalist art.
Between 1984 and 1991, the ICA partnered with GBH’s New Television Workshop to commission and co-produce over 20 new works of video art made for television in a pioneering initiative called the Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund. Featuring works by video and performance artists including Laurie Anderson, Dara Birnbaum, and Joan Jonas, the presentation of these works today emphasizes the democratic promise of public media during a time when it is under attack. On Oct. 15, the museum welcomes pioneering video artist Tony Oursler and president of GBH Susan Goldberg for an Artist’s Voice conversation about the public media’s role in reshaping the landscape of art and what that means for audiences today.
CURRENTS (1983–1995) was a flexible exhibition program designed for audiences to engage with the artistic currents of the moment and develop their own critical perspectives. This series featured artists whose work shed light on contemporary critical issues. Some of the artists presented through this innovative program include Edgar Heap of Birds, Jenny Holzer, Anish Kapoor, Yoko Ono, Martha Rosler, and many more. 90 YEARS will bring some of these artists’ work back to the museum alongside new “currents” from emerging artists Hanna Hur, Joanna Keane Lopez, and Lee Mary Manning, whose practices engage with the themes explored in the original CURRENTS presentations.
Ellen Gallagher’s first survey exhibition, Watery Ecstatic (Oct.–Dec. 2001), explored Black representation and the myth of Drexciya—a civilization of water-breathing, aquatic descendants of the pregnant, enslaved African women thrown overboard on ships bound for America—created by a Detroit techno duo of the same name. Since 2001, Gallagher’s work has returned to this ongoing series, mixing together oceanographic natural history and Black Atlantean mythology. Gallagher’s survey was a homecoming for the artist, who attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in the late 1980s to early ’90s, and was a member of the Cambridge-based Dark Room Collective—a group of poets and artists who hosted writing workshops, readings, and gatherings for Black artists. This presentation features a core group of works from the 2001 exhibition, alongside a more recently made collage from the titular series, celebrating Gallagher’s as one of a string of important solo shows from women artists presented at the ICA during this period.
One of the most celebrated artists of our time, Yayoi Kusama, was best known for her Infinity Mirror Rooms—mirrored environments filled with Kusama’s organic patterns and forms covered in the artist’s signature polka dots. In 1966, the ICA presented Kusama’s work as part of the exhibition Multiplicity and in 2018, the museum acquired LOVE IS CALLING, 2013, one of the artist’s largest Infinity Mirror Rooms. Bringing together tentacle-like inflatable sculptures, poetry, brilliant colors, dynamic lighting, and endless reflections, the work exemplifies the breadth of Kusama’s visual vocabulary while creating the illusion of infinite space. Back on view at the ICA for the first time since its Boston premiere in 2019, this beloved work is a poignant meditation on love and infinity that exemplifies the depth of Kusama’s artistic vision. Inspired by Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, Andrew Schneider transforms the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater into an immersive and interactive environment in NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars). From Jan. 21–24 and Jan. 28–31, this unique installation experience invites audiences to contemplate on time, memory, and presence in Schneider’s matrix of light featuring nearly 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel sound system.
In 2022, Simone Leigh made history when she became the first Black woman to represent the United States in the 59th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. The exhibition was commissioned by the ICA in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Simone Leigh: Sovereignty included a new body of work rooted in Black feminist thought. These works were later included in Leigh’s first museum survey, presented at the ICA in 2023 before a national tour. For 90 YEARS, two of Leigh’s iconic ceramic sculptures, which are now part of the ICA’s permanent collection, will be presented to celebrate this landmark undertaking in the museum’s history.
Interstitial Works:
In conjunction with 90 YEARS, a selection of additional artworks will be installed on every floor of the building, offering visitors an expanded encounter with art across the museum Two standouts include Glenn Ligon’s site-specific installation of two text-based neon works in the ICA’s John Hancock Founders Gallery overlooking the Boston Harbor. Ligon uses language to examine race, identity, and American history—together, the two works ask how these concepts remain inseparable from the idea of America itself, engaging with the dualities of American society on the occasion of the country’s 250th anniversary. Jenny Holzer’s Inflammatory Wall, 1979-82, brings together a site-specific installation of the artist’s incisive texts that relate to overriding themes explored in Holzer’s work: power, social control, abuse, consumption, sex, and more. Holzer was the third artist presented at the ICA as part of the CURRENTS program in 1983, and her work has been included in numerous subsequent exhibitions.
Press Preview
Media are invited to attend the press preview for 90 YEARS on Tuesday, October 13. RSVP to press@icaboston.org
Performance
Throughout the run of the exhibition, the ICA will host a series of performances that celebrate or reinvent moments from the ICA’s history or advance new artistic visions:
MIDDAY Movement Series and ICA/Boston present: Braiding Futures
Friday, Oct. 23, 2026 | 8 PM
In this showcase, three emerging Boston-based artists working in contemporary dance explore the themes of cultural resistance and resilience through contemporary movement practices.
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company: Collage Revisited and Story/
Friday, Nov. 20, 2026 | 8 PM
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026 | 8 PM
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2026 | 2 PM
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company return to the ICA with a program reflecting on history, legacy, and continued experimentation, re-visiting The History of Collage, the last collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane before Arnie’s death in Collage Revisited.
The Inevitable Return: Exploding Plastic Revisited
Friday, Dec. 11, 2026 | 7–11 PM
On Saturday October 29, 1966, the ICA hosted a groundbreaking multimedia performance by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, under the enigmatic title, “Exploding Plastic Inevitable.” On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the ICA resurrects the spirit of what has been called one of the greatest concerts in Boston history.
Andrew Schneider: NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars)
Thursday, Jan. 21 through Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027
Thursday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 31, 2027
With nearly 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel sound system, NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) traces every decision you have ever made as a contributing factor to being “here” and being “now.” The experience dazzles with light and sound while inviting contemplation on time, memory, and presence — an unforgettable way to visit the stars without ever leaving Earth. Duration varies and may run up to an hour.
Programming
The Artist’s Voice: Tony Oursler with Susan Goldberg, Meghan Clare Considine, and Nora Burnett Abrams
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 | 7 PM
Join us for a conversation around Boston’s key role in the history of video art, while exploring current debates around public broadcasting and cultural access. This discussion features pioneering video artist and former MassArt faculty Tony Oursler, Susan Goldberg, president of GBH, and Meghan Clare Considine, ICA Curatorial Assistant, and moderated by Nora Burnett Abrams, ICA’s Ellen Matilda Poss Director.
Online Series: Eyes on Art
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 | 2 PM
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026 | 2 PM
Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2026 | 2 PM
Take an afternoon art break to look, share, and connect with others. Eyes on Art, a new online program at the ICA, encourages deep looking at a single work of art from the ICA’s permanent collection. Led by ICA Gallery Educators, participants share their observations and interpretations in this 45-minute exercise of close looking.
ICA Unlocked: Contemporary Art for the Curious
Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026 | 1 PM
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2026 | 1 PM
Join us at the ICA for a fun, two-part, no-pressure, program designed for curious adults who aren’t afraid to ask, “What am I looking at?” and “Am I the only one that doesn’t get it?”
About the ICA
Since its founding in 1936, the ICA has shared the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, imagination, and provocation that contemporary art offers with its audiences. A museum at the intersection of contemporary art and civic life, the ICA has advanced a bold vision for amplifying the artist’s voice and expanding the museum’s role as educator, incubator, and convener. Its exhibitions, performances, and educational programs provide access to the breadth and diversity of contemporary art, artists, and the creative process, inviting audiences of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the excitement of new art and ideas. The ICA is located at 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston, MA, 02210. The Watershed is located at 256 Marginal Street, East Boston, MA 02128. For more information, call 617-478-3100 or visit our website at icaboston.org. Follow the ICA on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Media Contact
Theresa Romualdez, press@icaboston.org
