ICA Boston fall exhibitions pair a painted valley with a sculptural wedding

The ICA Boston fall exhibitions put two very different gatherings under one roof. Cynthia Daignault assembles a landscape across multiple canvases. Leilah Babirye arranges ceramic and wood figures into a wedding. Both exhibitions opened August 27 and are listed through January 18, 2027, giving Boston residents time to choose a visit rather than squeeze one into an opening weekend.

There is also a straightforward way to avoid the standard adult admission charge: the museum’s free Thursday nights run from 5 to 9 p.m. Advance tickets are required. Free admission is a booking category, not a promise that a particular evening has space.

ICA Boston fall exhibitions: a landscape in parts

In Valley, Baltimore-based Daignault takes the view up Yosemite’s Merced River as the subject of a multi-panel painting installation. The ICA describes her practice as “long-form painting,” in which related canvases let an image or narrative unfold over time.

The subject arrives with a history of earlier pictures. The museum points to nineteenth-century photographs by Carleton Watkins and paintings by Albert Bierstadt, then to the digital images through which a contemporary painter encounters that familiar landscape. This is not simply a painting of an untouched view. It is a painting made after generations of people have framed, circulated and recognized it.

That distinction offers a useful question to take into the gallery: how does dividing an already familiar vista into panels change the time spent looking at it? The exhibition page includes a link to a conversation between the artist and curator, useful preparation for anyone who wants more than the wall label.

A wedding made from transformed materials

Babirye’s Embaga ya Naki ne Naki (Wedding of Naki and Naki) gives individual sculptures roles in a queer wedding: bride, groom, ring bearer, flower girl, bridesmaid and groomsman. Large works in charred wood stand as aunties, uncles and ancestors witnessing the gathering.

The ICA’s description emphasizes how she transforms discarded materials. Bicycle chains and gears become adornment; rubber inner tubes become long tresses around carved wood and glazed ceramic forms. Knowing the source material gives visitors something concrete to look for, without requiring agreement with a curator’s interpretation.

The museum connects the installation to Babirye’s commitment to LGBTQ identities and community. It also says the exhibition is accompanied by her first book. The central event is a ceremony, but the figures invite attention one at a time as well as together.

Book the visit, not just the idea

The ICA is at 25 Harbor Shore Drive in the Seaport. Its visitor page recommends public transportation and identifies Courthouse and World Trade Center on the Silver Line as nearby stations. The museum does not own or operate a parking garage, so an admission budget and a driving budget are separate calculations.

Standard admission is currently listed at $20 for adults, $15 for students and $17 for visitors 65 and older. Visitors 18 and under are free. The museum also lists an Artist Pass for Massachusetts artists and other reduced-admission programs; check the relevant conditions before selecting a ticket.

Pack lightly. Suitcases and large musical instruments are not permitted, and the gallery bag limit is 11 by 14 inches, with exceptions for required accessibility equipment. Check the museum’s accessibility information for individual needs.

The exhibition dates above come from the museum’s listings, checked October 10. This is a guide to the shows and the practical route in, not a claim to have seen either installation firsthand.