HIGHLIGHTS
I’m deeply grateful for Boston’s university galleries—they consistently fill the gaps left by the local commercial gallery scene, which has been diluted, in my opinion, by the pressure to cover rent. These institutions reliably bring high-quality, thoughtful art and ideas to the city. A short but not exhaustive list would include the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis, the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts, MIT’s List Visual Arts Center, and the Harvard Art Museums.
I’ve noticed that many of these educational institutions are spotlighting artists who pioneered techniques now ubiquitous in contemporary practice—integrating craft materials, and the use of fabric and textiles. These shows are relevant to younger audiences while also placing contemporary art within the context of art history, including the work of artists living and working outside of the US. Three recent exhibitions illustrate this trend particularly well.
Beverly Semmes: Boulders/Flag/Flip/Kick at Aidekman Art Center, Tufts University
@tuftsartgalleries
On view through: November 23, 2025
This survey exhibition reveals the breadth of Semmes’ practice across installation, performance, video, sculpture, and painting, unified by what the director, Dina Deitsch, describes in the catalog as “a perpetual friction between presence and absence.” I was pleased to discover this artist, best known for her monumental dress sculptures and the FRP (Feminist Responsibility Project) series of overpainted pornographic images. While both themes have become familiar territory in contemporary art, I found myself drawn to the beauty and technical mastery of her work.
Semmes’s small paintings on glass particularly captivated me with their assured brushwork and unexpected color combinations. Painting on glass has to be done in layers, and colors and marks at the surface need to be done first. Even these works contain an image from a porn magazine that is worked into the overall composition, keeping with her overall theme of feminist responsibility.
Fabricated Imaginaries: Crafting Art – on view through May 2026
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University @roseartmuseum
Fred Wilson: Reflections – On view through January 2, 2026
A spectacular exhibition at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum showcases work from the museum’s collection that reflects global perspectives and the blending of techniques and formats. Located on the Waltham, MA campus—about a half-hour drive from downtown Boston—the show includes pieces by El Anatsui, famed for transforming metal and plastic bottle caps and other detritus into shimmering hanging tapestries, as well as work by Boston artists Yu-Wen Wu, Alison Croney Moses, and many others.
These artists all occupy a space shaped by craft traditions, including sewing, weaving, and fashion, but their blending of metaphor and technique deepens the resonances of each piece. Yu-Wen Wu’s Recitations (2024) is formally beautiful, and upon closer inspection, reveals that each fuzzy ball is actually dried tea leaves glued together, the balls strung together with knotted red thread. Alison Croney Moses’s carefully crafted wood piece is one of the most striking I’ve seen of her work, hung in a way that emphasizes the multiple shadow play on the walls.
Also on view at the Rose Art Museum is a stunning exhibit by Fred Wilson, known for his use of black Murano glass to create enormous, embellished mirrors that bring to mind the expression “through a glass darkly.” Wilson explores cultural narratives and historical erasures in his work. “The color black represents African American people because it’s been placed on us as a representation,” Wilson says. “Of course, the color black—the absence of light—really has nothing to do with African Americans. But there’s a whole other layer of meaning.”
Black Now!, an immersive installation of black-themed consumer goods, takes up an entire room and challenges our perceptions of identity, memory, and changing cultural attitudes. Black Now! features mugs, posters, clothing and a huge number of black-themed collectibles. I spent a good half hour perusing the cups, mugs, posters, plates, food items, key chains, and clothing items that together spoke volumes about value, commodification, and culture.
All photos courtesy of the writer.
About the writer: Adria Arch is a Boston based sculptor, painter and educator. Her work has been featured at Brattleboro Art Museum, the Fitchburg Art Museum, Danforth Museum and the Boston Sculptors Gallery. Arch recently completed a commission for Google. Her large scale suspended work will be on view at Boston City Hall in November and at the San Luis Obispo Art Museum in December of 2025. @adriaarch