Philadelphia is home to two major art institutions, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Philadelphia artist Virgil Marti (born 1962) recently curated a show for the ICA of objects chosen from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's collection; "Set Pieces" brings these objects together, shedding light both on the Museum's outstanding collection of objects and on the roots of Marti's own opulent, design-based aesthetic. Texts by I.C.A. Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner, Philadelphia Museum curator Joseph Risehl, gallerist Lia Gangitano (Participant Inc.) and Philadelphia-based poet Thomas Devaney round out the volume.

An unprecedented look at the contemporary collective's theatrical art, charting their performances and exploring their social and creative commitments The first monographic publication on the art collective My Barbarian (Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade) offers new insights into the work of this singular group of performers. My Barbarian has used performance to theatricalize social issues, adapting narratives from modern plays, historical texts, and mass media; this volume accompanies a major retrospective celebrating the group's twentieth anniversary. An overview essay relates their work's formal qualities to several historical moments over this span: the club era following September 11, 2001; postcolonial theater after the 2008 financial collapse; and political theater responding to the pressing issues of today. Other contributions read the collective's output through a lens of queer and other critical theory, and contextualize it within the twenty-first-century experimental performance scene. A richly illustrated visual chronology features texts on each of My Barbarian's past works written by the artists. Performances and video works are re-created using stills alongside photos, drawings, scripts, and personal materials drawn from the artists' archives, many never previously published. Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art Exhibition Schedule: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (October 29, 2021-February 27, 2022) Institute of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles (September 2022-January 2023)