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museum exhibitions calendar_today Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Two New Exhibits at Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania has opened two new exhibitions. "Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images" (through December 7, 2025) is the first major museum survey dedicated to Jamaican-born geometric abstractionist Mavis Pusey (1928-2019), featuring over 60 works from her 50-year career, including her "Broken Construction" series. Co-organized with the Studio Museum in Harlem and curated by Hallie Ringle and Kiki Teshome, the show includes archival materials. The second exhibition, "Entryways: Xenobia Bailey" (through August 9, 2026), continues ICA's collaboration with textile studio Maharam, featuring a window installation by Philadelphia-based fiber artist Xenobia Bailey, curated by Denise Ryner.

These exhibitions matter because they address historical gaps in art history. Pusey, despite international recognition, has been largely overlooked; this retrospective—a decade in the making—repositions her as a significant figure in geometric abstraction and contemporary discourse. Bailey's "Entryways" commission highlights the growing institutional embrace of fiber arts and public-facing installations, while the ICA's partnership with Maharam and the Studio Museum demonstrates how cross-institutional collaboration can amplify underrepresented artists and practices.