Institute of Contemporary Art / BostonSeaport

To My Best Friend

Now showing23 January 2026 – 31 December 2026$20

More than 50 works Fotene Demoulas and Tom Cote helped bring into the ICA Collection, with Laura Owens, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Olga de Amaral, Sarah Sze and Lorna Simpson.

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On now All of October 2026

The first wall is covered in strangers. Lorna Simpson collected 85 black-and-white photo booth portraits from around the country, taken between 1925 and 1960, framed them small and hung them with gold embossed drawings and bronze, 122 pieces in all. Everyone in the photos is Black, and the work gives the show its name.

Past it are 20 works by 17 women artists, all given or promised to the ICA by the collectors Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté, several on view for the first time. You go from Mickalene Thomas's rhinestone-studded chaise longue to Sarah Sze's studio piece, over 8 feet tall, which reads as shattered glass until you're close enough to spot the Post-it notes.

The Arts Fuse called it "a fair reflection" of the museum's aim to show artists who were long neglected. It's in the Kim and Jim Pallotta Gallery until 31 December, included with $20 admission, and free on Thursdays 5 to 9 pm with an advance ticket.

Look for

Lorna Simpson, To My Best Friend (2013)
Look for 85 small framed photo booth portraits of Black sitters, found across the US and dating from 1925 to 1960, filling the large wall that opens the show.
Sarah Sze, Surround Sound (After Studio) (2019)
From a distance the three-part, 8-foot-plus work looks like shattered glass; up close it is images of speakers, Post-it notes, torn packaging and mirrored surfaces from her studio.
Olga de Amaral, Bruma W (2018)
Linen threads cascade from a wooden panel into a haze, the effect the title names: bruma is Spanish for mist.
Mickalene Thomas, Monet's Salon (2012)
Colour-block paintings hung salon-style around a rhinestone-studded chaise longue and semi-opaque windows, Monet's studio cut up and reassembled.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, The Beautiful Ones Series #7 (2018)
A young Black girl stands with arms crossed, looking straight at you, against yellow cars with photographic images embedded in the paint.