Work by Wilmer Wilson IV from SKIRL! at ICA Philadelphia

Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia · University City

Wilmer Wilson IV: SKIRL!

正在展出2026年9月26日 – 2027年2月21日·免费

ICA's inaugural R+D residency: Wilmer Wilson IV takes the eastern gray squirrel as a lens on American ecologies and colonial history, in installation, sculpture and performance.

展览官网

For several weeks, Wilmer Wilson IV could hear a squirrel moving around inside the walls of his home. On 17 and 24 October he returns the favour, performing from concealed spaces inside ICA's own walls.

The subject is the Eastern Gray Squirrel, which Philadelphia's planners released into city parks in the mid-nineteenth century as "public pets". You walk into more than a dozen new and recent works: hanging dreys (squirrel nests) built from natural materials, a flag-sized bronze of a squirrel from American history, human-scale drawings and large architectural sculptures. Philadelphia did it first, so the squirrels on Locust Walk outside are the legacy of a city planning scheme.

Entry is free, Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm and until 8pm on Thursdays, through 21 February 2027. The in-wall performances use walnuts, and ICA asks visitors with nut allergies to consider staying out of the gallery on those days. On 16 and 23 October Wilson instead leaves ICA at 11am for a walking performance around the city.

看点

The hanging dreys
Look for squirrel nests at monumental scale, built from natural materials and hung in the gallery.
The flag-sized bronze
A bronze sculpture the size of a flag, made as a memorial to a notable squirrel from American history.
The architectural sculptures
Large structures that act as a stage for smaller works about humans and animals taking over houses and city infrastructure.
Wilson inside the walls
On 17 and 24 October the artist occupies the installations and hidden spaces in ICA's walls, after the squirrel that lived in his own.