6 Art Galleries to Safely Visit in Person this Winter

So many of Greater Boston’s museums and art galleries are working hard to keep their doors open and keep art experiences safe and available during the pandemic. With safety measures in place, getting out to take in these exhibits can provide a much-needed change of pace and perspective, and can be a welcome activity to help transition to venturing out more often as the city gets nearer to further steps in the reopening process. We hope you check out the work by these artists, whose pieces and the messages behind them can offer meaning during tumultuous times. 

For more, check out the ArtsBoston Calendar for an extensive look at what’s happening in your local arts scene.

Showcasing over 100 pieces and reaching across 250 years of history, this exhibit shows the landmarks and turning points for women fashion designers. Across different genres, styles, and functions, this exhibit is a lesson in how women’s contributions have shaped and defined clothing worn throughout so many iconic eras. Check out high-fashion looks from Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, innovative streetwear, and even a look from Mary Todd Lincoln’s seamstress Elsa Schiaparelli.

For an installation at the ICA coming later in March, one of LeWitt’s signature hanging wall sculptures will be on display. Made of colorful bands of coated mesh fabric, the circular shapes overlap and draw viewers in to a mesmerizing experience of shape and form. The dynamic visual effect created by the piece will surely attract patrons this spring, as will learning about the artist. The daughter of contemporary art icon Sol LeWitt, Eva LeWitt’s unique style is a welcome burst of color and innovation.

Lougee is a fiber artist and sculptor who is currently working in Residence with the town of Arlington, MA on a large scale collaborative public art project, and also holds an MFA from Boston University. Her whimsical sculptures address the impact of our consumerist society on nature, using materials like disposed plastic bags to create physical representations of humanity’s treacherous relationship with our changing climate.

Showcasing the movement of artists who created work responding to life in New York City during the 1980’s, this gallery is a not-to-miss for fans of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and many, many more. This gallery unpacks how these artists processed the tensions of the times through an extensive use of mediums, all directly in conversation with the burgeoning hip-hop culture of the 80’s.

Chinese choreographer, dancer, filmmaker and painter Shen Wei is being featured at the Gardner this year, and his large-scale paintings and artworks are an opportunity to get lost in a peaceful moment. See Wei’s recent paintings, including two works he created as an Artist-in-Residence at the museum this year, and in addition you’ll also see how his choreographic styles, and general philosophies as an artist, transcend mediums to create a cohesive experience for the viewer.

Zipeto’s artworks extrapolate on the symbolic image of the Statue of Liberty using techniques of paper and transparency to change our points of view on the familiar statue. Surrounded by these familiar, yet unfamiliar, images, viewers have the opportunity to sit with the ideas of what lies underneath the  surface of the values of American society, and how those values have changed over time.