Summoning: Group exhibition

Brett Angell, Ekua Holmes, Oliver Jeffers, Cathy Lu, Billie Mandle, Helina Metaferia, Joiri Minaya, Duke Riley, John Shen, Jean Shin, Yu-Wen Wu, Nicole Wilson

Praise Shadows is pleased to announce details of its move to Downtown Boston and the opening group exhibition, Summoning. After five years in Brookline, the gallery will open its doors in a newly renovated 2,000-square-foot space at 129 Kingston Street in the Leather District, at the nexus of Chinatown, Downtown Crossing and the Financial District. The gallery’s office, private viewing room, and storage occupy an additional 2,000 square feet on an upper floor. 

The gallery’s relocation to Boston – only 3.5 miles from the original location in Brookline – is part of Mayor Wu’s and the Downtown Boston Alliance’s initiative to attract creative enterprises to Downtown Boston. By reimagining vacant office and retail spaces as accessible venues for artistic production, performance, and community gathering, the initiative supports the continued revitalization of Boston's downtown, while cultivating economic vitality and a thriving creative ecosystem.

Mayor Wu and the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture (MOAC) are investing in these spaces to foster a thriving cultural ecosystem, fuel creative industries, and encourage new business opportunities.

"We're excited to welcome Praise Shadows to Downtown Boston—a gallery that will build pathways for our artists and emerging curators, and writers to thrive in our city," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "Through fellowship programs, professional exhibition opportunities for student artists, and free public programming, Praise Shadows will help nurture local talent and make high-quality art accessible to everyone – uplifting and supporting the next generation of artists while welcoming residents and tourists to a vibrant Downtown.”

The exhibition, Summoning, is an invitation to gather in Praise Shadows’ new space. The selected artworks “summon” people, spirits, ideas, memories, secrets, truths, ancestors, and more. A notable new painting made for this show is by the Boston-born and raised Duke Riley, who recalls in true and fantastical details the vivid memories from his childhood on the streets of Downtown Crossing, just blocks from the new location, during the 1970s and 1980s. The show also features paintings and assemblage by Brett Angell, collage by Ekua Holmes, painting by Oliver Jeffers, ceramic sculpture by Cathy Lu, photographs by Billie Mandle, an audience-based participatory sculpture by Helina Metaferia, botanical paintings by Joiri Minaya, daguerreotypes by John Shen, sculptures by Jean Shin, large-scale work on paper by Yu-Wen Wu, and sculpture by Nicole Wilson.

More information about the artworks in Summoning will be available in late February.