The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. The museum is associated with the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to exhibiting the innovative art of our time. Robert Chaney is its Director of Curatorial Affairs.

History

Since its founding in 1963 by Holmes Perkins, the ICA has established a reputation for identifying artists of promise who later emerge in the international spotlight. The ICA has exhibited the first museum shows of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Agnes Martin Agnes Bernice Martin (March 22, 1912 – December 16, 2004), was an American abstract painter. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion on inward-ness and silence". Although she is often considered or referred to as a minimalist, Mart ...

, and

Robert Indiana Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark; September 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018) was an American artist associated with the pop art movement. His iconic image LOVE was first created in 1964 in the form of a card which he sent to several friends and acq ...

. The ICA does not have a permanent collection, but new exhibits are shown three times a year, with approximately twelve shows annually. ICA offers educational programs, artist talks, lectures, films and tours. Early shows included works by Richard Artschwager,

Vija Celmins Vija Celmins (pronounced VEE-ya SELL-muns;Hilarie M. Sheets and Randy Kennedy (September 24, 2015)''New York Times''. lv, Vija Celmiņa, pronounced TSEL-meen-ya) is a Latvian American visual artist best known for photo-realistic paintings and dr ...

Karen Kilimnik Karen Kilimnik (born 1955) is an American painter and installation artist. Life and work Karen traveled through much of the United States and Canada as a young child. She often spoke of Russell, Manitoba as being an inspiration for her later w ...

, Charles LeDray,

Barry Le Va Barry Edward Le Va (December 28, 1941 – January 24, 2021) was an American sculptor and installation artist. Trained in his native California, he lived and worked in New York City. Le Va was among the leading figures of post-studio and process ...

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe (; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-p ...

, Pepon Osorio,

Tavares Strachan Tavares Henderson Strachan (born December 16, 1979) is a Bahamian-born conceptual artist. His contemporary multi-media installations investigate science, technology, mythology, history, and exploration. He lives and works in New York City and Nass ...

, and

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...

. Other featured artists have included

Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He ...

Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles Coun ...

John Armleder John Armleder (born 1948, in Geneva) is a Swiss performance artist, painter, sculptor, critic, and curator. His work is based on his involvement with Fluxus in the 1960s and 1970s, when he created performance art pieces, installations and collectiv ...

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

, Kate Gilmore, and

Odili Donald Odita Odili Donald Odita (born 18 February 1966) is a Nigerian American abstract painter who lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work explores color both in the figurative historical context and in the sociopolitical sense. His vibran ...

. Roberta Smith of the ''New York Times'' wrote in 2007 that the ICA is "among the most adventuresome showcases in the country where art since 1970 is concerned. It chooses its subject well, keeps things accessible through the judicious use of well-written labels and brochures, and takes risks that prove that the curatorial discipline is alive and kicking". In 2009, Smith also observed, "On a surprisingly regular basis, the tiny Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania here mounts exhibitions that make the contemporary-art adventures of many larger museums look blinkered, timid and hidebound." The ICA was previously headquartered in

Meyerson Hall Meyerson Hall is a building in West Philadelphia, and the site of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The building, designed by the architecture firm of Martin, Stewart, Noble & Class, was constructed in 1967 in rein ...

. The current modern gallery building was built in 1990 and designed by

Adèle Naudé Santos Adèle Naudé Santos is a South African born American architect and urban designer focused on low-income housing, campus architecture, and socially conscious design. She is principal architect of Santos Prescott and Associates, based in San Franci ...

, who later became the dean of Architecture at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

References

External links

ICA Website
{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania campus University museums in Pennsylvania Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums established in 1963 1963 establishments in Pennsylvania University City, Philadelphia