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A Whirlwind Boston Art Tour

This past week, before the heat wave, a friend from VSC came to visit from SF. I offered to give her a quickie tour of some of Boston's art destinations. We started at the Institute of Contemporary Art where a new exhibit of sculpture by Anish Kapoor just opened. These works are amazing - they are extremely interactive, they play with the viewer's perceptions of space and depth. Many are large scale, highly polished organic and slippery forms that act like fun house mirrors to distort and flip reflections. Others appear to have holes that are far deeper than you imagine. You just wish the overprotective guards would let you get closer and stick your hands into the holes to defy or prove the illusion!

We then drove down to the South End, also known as SOWA, where the Bromfield Gallery and many other more edgy (for Boston!) galleries and artist studios are to be found. Karen Mennino is currently showing her Indian sari-inspired sculptural installation at the Kingston Gallery.

Finally, we ended up at the Museum of Fine Arts, currently undergoing serious construction. Though I wasn't particularly moved by the work of Lopez Garcia, I enjoyed browsing the bookstore, and having a cup of tea in the basement cafeteria which is lovely, and much cheaper than the cafe on the first floor.

It would be fun to put together a list of Boston art must-sees from a native artists' perspectives. The best way to get a snap shot of Boston art is to visit one or more of the many Open Studios.

What spaces/spots would you say are "art must sees" for an out of towner, that are OFF the beaten track?