The MCA began as a kunsthalle, a noncollecting museum dedicated to producing rotating exhibitions. In keeping with this origin, the museum has no permanent collection galleries; works from our collection often appear in special exhibitions. This section keeps visitors up-to-date on which collection works are currently on view. Ask a Visitor Services associate (wearing a "HI" pin) about where to find them in the museum.
Short A portrait of a woman looks like a child might have painted it; she has a blurry mouth, blotchy peach skin, greenish hair, dots for a nose, and two sets of eyes in a row that are not alike. What looks like a white tear runs down from her third eye.
Short A young woman with black hair and glasses wearing beige clothes sits on a boulder with an old man with white hair and a mustache wearing a navy shirt and blue jeans. The older man has his arm around the woman and both face the viewer.
Long The setting of the photograph appears to be a clearing in the woods. The man's arm, draped loosely around the woman's shoulder, holds her hand resting in her lap. Both people in the photo wear neutral expressions for the camera, despite their affectionate pose.
Short In this photograph a man leans over to give a one-armed hug to a teen girl on his left. They are dressed casually in denim and sneakers and pose in front of a lush wall of heart-shaped leaves
Short In this painting, a nude person stands against a dream-like, muddled background. The person is loosely rendered in yellows and reds. Their pupilless eyes stare at you.
Short A teen girl with light brown skin and dark hair sits and stares past the camera, eyebrow arched, in front of a colorful wall decorated with a rows of various condom-like shapes.
Short A shirtless black boy with short curly hair clasps his hands together and drops his jaw, making an "O" shape with his mouth. He is covered in beads of water and poses in front a blurry blue-and-white background.
Short In this colorful drawing with a green ground and pink, yellow, and orange background, a woman wearing glasses, blue sandals, and a blue and purple collared dress walks with her eyes closed, carrying flowers.
Short A black box mounted on a black frame contains a rendering of a white box. The entire work is intersected horizontally by a thin blue line.
Long A black box containing an image of a rectangular white box, rendered three-dimensionally, is mounted on the right side of an empty thick black frame. A horizontal blue line, which appears to be a very thin piece of painter's tape, intersects the entire work as well as the white wall behind it.
Short A loosely rendered illustration resembles ink splats on paper. The most discernible forms are a pair of hooves holding both a book and a pair of glasses.
Short Reflected in a large floor mirror is a black woman in blue underwear who stands, smiling and cupping her breasts. Clothing lies at her feet and a cat naps behind her.
Short A grainy image of an outstretched person is seen in profile against a blue background and covered with numbered black arrows and dots in a seemingly random arrangement.
Short A grainy image of an outstretched person is seen in profile against a blue background and covered with numbered black arrows and dots in a seemingly random arrangement.
Short A grainy image of an outstretched person is seen in profile against a blue background and covered with numbered black arrows and dots in a seemingly random arrangement.
Short A collage of images includes important moments of the late 1950s and early 1960s, including President John F. Kennedy talking and pointing a finger and an astronaut tethered to a parachute.
Short Three yellow sculptures of abstract human figures stand as if communicating with each other outdoors in an urban setting.
Long Three yellow and white forms are installed on an outdoor terrace. The forms resemble human bodies, yet they have no faces. The heads of the forms are created from coiled, hard textured material and the bodies are similarly constructed of coiled material, arranged into torsos, arms and legs. The scale of the figures is about double the size of an average person and the are arranged about a half of a figure length apart from each other. The figure on the left appears to have its head tilted to the sky, while the center figure faces to the right, where the third figure bends lightly towards the ground, hand upraised. The bright color of the figures contrasts with urban scene in the background: behind the figures a black fence, green leafy trees and tall gray buildings are visible. The sky is bright blue and the bright light of mid-day casts sharp shadows below the figures.
Short A matte black geometric sculpture juts out from the snowy ground. Two of its faces, one square and one triangular, are perfectly covered by a white layer of snow.
Short Two types of alien stand in four groups of two. The two largest of each alien type stand together. The smaller ones mingle with their foreign alien counterparts. One alien type is yellow, red, and lanky, has eyes on stalks, and stands on a dark blue circle; the other is green, red, and short, has black glossy oval eyes, and stands on a red circle.
Short Photograph of a grey textile that resembles a wet or soiled cut off sweatshirt sleeve.
Long This is a photograph of a grey fabric object that appears made from cotton. The upper part of the fabric is cut in an uneven fashion, cut lower on the right than on the left. The bottom half of the object is evenly hemmed in the way of a sweatshirt sleeve. The fabric appears to be wet or stained, mostly of the left half of the textile.
Short A young, dark-haired child in a white shirt looks into the camera against a grey background. The skin around the child's eyes seems a slightly rougher texture than that on the rest of its face.
Short A black and white photograph of a nude young adult with light skin and long hair bending over backwards and looking into the camera. The crisp outline of the figure's pale breasts contrasts sharply with the dark wooden floorboards in the background.
Short A closeup of a typewriter and a sheet of typed lines of red and black text. It is dimly lit and framed by a thick black border.
Long Text on yellowed paper in a typewriter appears to be a dialogue between two people, as it alternates between red and black text. Some of the dialogue is out of the view. The visible text reads,
"I won't answer."
" . . . ans no. Where are you?" "I am home."
" . . . miss me?"
At this point, the response is obscured by the typewriter. The text continues,
" . . . you miss the most?"
"No answer. I do."
