Now @ MASS MoCA
James Turrell
On view now. Reservations required for Perfectly Clear and Hind Sight.
In James Turrell’s hands, light is more than simply a source of illumination: it is a discrete, physical object. His sculptures and architectural interventions elevate our experience and perception of light and space. Squares of sky seem to float, suspended, in ceilings or walls; architecture disintegrates; and brilliant geometric shapes levitate in midair. Turrell began using light as a sculptural medium in 1966, painting the windows of his studio in Santa Monica to seal off the natural light and experimenting with projections. His practice has been shaped by the ongoing manipulation of architecture, framing and altering the way viewers engage with the environment. A pioneer in the Southern California Light and Space movement, MASS MoCA presents a multi-decade retrospective of Turrell’s work in B6: The Robert W. Wilson Building — with galleries designed and constructed specially to best accentuate his installations. C.A.V.U. is now open, joining Into the Lightand making MASS MoCA the only North American institution offering a comprehensive overview of James Turrell’s career. Read more.
Vincent Valdez
On view through April 5, 2026
Vincent Valdez bears witness to the world around him, chronicling America at the margins. Just a Dream… is the artist’s first major museum survey including work from over twenty years across all media. The exhibition is co-organized by MASS MoCA and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). The exhibition addresses American politics today, including topics such as boxing, lynchings of Mexican Americans, border walls, politics, greed, the Ku Klux Klan, and the failings and triumphs of society. Accompanying the show will be a bilingual (English/Spanish) catalogue that will be lushly illustrated and will feature a gatefold and a special sewn-in booklet of behind-the-scenes studio images. Texts include a re-print of Joyce Carol Oates’ On Boxing, essays by exhibition curators Denise Markonish (MASS MoCA) and Patricia Restrepo (CAMH); and writing on the artist’s relationship to Texas by MASS MoCA Curator Evan Garza. This exhibition and publication will cement Valdez as one of the most important American painters working today — imaging his country, its people, politics, pride, and foibles.
Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… is the artist’s first major museum survey and spans over two decades of his work, from early career drawings to current allegorical portraits. Working across painting, video, drawing, sculpture, lithography, and multimedia installation, Valdez deftly addresses the failings and triumphs of contemporary American society with a reverential focus on collective memory and overlooked political histories. Valdez states, “I create images as instruments to probe the past in order to reveal an immediacy to what is occurring today. I am alarmed by the denial of history. I will continue to create counter-images to impede the social amnesia that includes our fateful desire to repeat it.” Read more.
Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective
At ease…on view through 2043
From MASS MoCA:
Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective comprises 105 of LeWitt’s large-scale wall drawings, spanning the artist’s career from 1969 to 2007. These occupy nearly an acre of specially built interior walls that have been installed—per LeWitt’s own specifications—over three stories of a historic mill building situated at the heart of MASS MoCA’s campus. The 27,000-square-foot structure, known as Building #7, has been fully restored for the exhibition by Bruner/Cott & Associates architects, which has closely integrated the building into the museum’s main circulation plan through a series of elevated walkways, a dramatic new vertical lightwell, and new stairways.
A new immersive app, developed by The Sol LeWitt Estate and Microsoft, transports users into LeWitt’s creative world with the ability to scan select wall drawings, take a virtual tour of his studio, and uncover never before seen archival video and audio. Read more.