Visual arts

The Boston Globe reports that Prof. Emerita Joan Jonas has been awarded the 2018 Kyoto Prize. The prize honors “important figures in the fields of advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy.”

Writing for The Boston Globe, Cate McQuaid spotlights “Gwenneth Boelens: At Odds” and “Charlotte Moth: Seeing While Moving,” two exhibits on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. McQuaid writes that “individual works in the exhibitions prompt bittersweet responses to lost utopias, uncanny associations of place and time, and heightened attunement to the senses.”

“MIT professor emerita Joan Jonas, who represented the United States at the Venice Biennale, has been named the next visual arts mentor for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative,” writes Meredith Goldstein for The Boston Globe. Jonas was named to the initiative along with five other artists.

Boston Globe reporter Mark Feeney writes about photographer Ulrich Wüst’s show at the MIT Museum, his first exhibit in the U.S. Feeney writes that the wonder of Wüst’s show is “how diverse it is in subject matter…yet how consistent in spirit.”

The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, in partnership with MIT List Visual Arts Center, announced that conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner has been commissioned to paint the Greenway’s fourth temporary mural, reports Olga Khvan for Boston Magazine. “[Weiner] is known for his typographic works, such as his 2008 ‘Dead Center’ installation at MIT,” Khvan explains. 

MIT Lecturer B.D. Colen speaks with Boston Magazine reporter Chris Sweeney about his new photography exhibit, “Alone, Together,” which looks at how people riding the MBTA attempt to find some privacy.  Colen explains that the idea behind the exhibit “isn’t to invade people’s privacy. You’re in public, and I’m just documenting how people behave under these circumstances.”

Boston Globe reporter Eryn Carlson writes about MIT visiting artist Anicka Yi’s exhibition, “6,070,430K of Digital Spit,” on display at the List Visual Arts Center. Yi explains that she wants the exhibit, “to be a totally encompassing experience, engaging the senses of taste, sight, smell, hearing.”

In this video, Jared Bowen reports for WGBH on a retrospective of Professor Joan Jonas’ work at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. “One only has to experience it and you get immersed in it,” says List Visual Arts Center Director Paul Ha of Jonas’ work. 

Nidhi Subbaraman writes for BetaBoston about research scientist Felice Frankel, who is credited with making scientific research more accessible through her photos. Prof. John Rogers of the University of Illinois says that Frankel, who is teaching an edX course this summer, has “played a significant role” in advancing science photography. 

Guardian reporter Jason Farago writes about Prof. Emerita Joan Jonas’ multimedia installation at the Venice Biennale. Farago writes that Jonas’ exhibit has been “has been the hit of the Giardini,” and “that in a show with too little regard for form, her profound and affecting new work proves that politics and beauty are not at odds.”

Prof. Emerita Joan Jonas’ installation at the Venice Biennale is a “triumphal exhibition,” writes Roberta Smith for The New York Times. Smith says that Jonas’ exhibit is “one of the best solo shows to represent the United States at the biennale in over a decade — an effortless combination of maturity and freshness.”

Ann Neumann, formerly of the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., has been appointed director of galleries and exhibitions at the MIT Museum, according to the Cambridge Chronicle. “I’m excited to take a position that is at the epicenter of so much scientific research,” said Neumann. 

Boston Globe reporter Laura Collins-Hughes speaks with Professor Emerita Joan Jonas about her upcoming display at the Venice Biennale. “At the moment what attracts me, what I’m focusing on, is that the world is sort of in trouble in relation to the natural environment,” said Jonas about her motivation for her installation.

The MIT Visual Arts List has released details about Professor Emerita Joan Jonas’ upcoming video presentation at the Venice Biennale, writes Meredith Goldstein for The Boston Globe. Jonas “will present a new video performance, ‘They Come to Us Without a Word II,’ three times from July 20 to 22, with live musical accompaniment.”

MIT’s List Visual Arts Center is displaying a collection of Prof. Emerita Joan Jonas’ video art, writes Sebastian Smee for The Boston Globe. “The selection adds up to a fascinating overview of Jonas’s achievement, which is as rich and complex as it is disarming and improvised,” Smee writes.