sculpture

The title of the extraordinary exhibition on view at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum through Aug. 4, “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch,” is drawn from the diary of its subject, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960), until now an underrecognized 20th-century sculptor of African American and Native American descent.

This is the eighth in a weekly series presenting highlights of conversations between leading Black visual artists in New England. In this week’s podcast, Larry Pierce interviews sculptor Susie Smith.

The ICA Watershed in East Boston opened for its 2023 season last week with “Guadalupe Maravilla: Mariposa Relámpago,” a monumental, healing sound and sculpture installation exploring the artist’s migratory journey from El Salvador to the United States.

The latest tower to rise along Boston Harbor is neither a condo complex nor a hotel. Instead, it is a commanding, 24-foot-high sculpture in black bronze that stands at the entrance of the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston.

“The Embrace,” a sculptural monument by artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, brings a new and dynamic piece of public art to Boston’s portfolio of straightforward statues.

Sculptor Claudia Comte erected a series titled “Five Marble Leaves,” along the Boston waterfront, inspired by the 24 pin and red oak trees in Central Wharf Park.

Dynamic sculpture artist Rose B. Simpson opens her first solo show in Boston at the ICA, running Aug. 11 through Jan. 29. Utilizing ceramic sculpture, performance, installation, metalwork, writing and other media, Simpson reflects on the human condition, particularly under colonial rule. 

In collaboration with Now + There, artist Rhea Vedro has begun a three-part public art project titled “Amulet” that starts with community workshops in East Boston and culminates in a series of bird-inspired steel sculptures installed at City Hall Plaza.

Oval and circular shapes dominate Simone Leigh’s sculptures, semi-abstract female figures in terra cotta, bronze and ceramic that exude the power of totems. 

Alejandra Cuadra Sanchez’s exhibition “Pasajes de Pertenecer” (Passages of Belonging) at Boston Sculptors Gallery probes what it means to be from a place and what we owe to the earth we live on.

John Wilson’s dynamic sculpture “Father and Child Reading” has sat on the Roxbury Community College campus since 1990. The college commissioned the piece in 1985 and it’s been a symbol of the power of education and interpersonal relationships for decades. Now the sculpture is receiving a commemorative plaque and a rededication ceremony to honor its value for the campus community.