A new year, a new president, and a news cycle that feels impossible to keep up with has got us looking for sites of respite and reflection. Our editors have compiled a list of shows, all within two hours of Boston, that can be enjoyed by popping into a gallery on an afternoon running errands or made into a day trip at a nearby museum.
“Pulp Memories,” January 11–February 15, 2025
This exhibition invites viewers into a world where innovative techniques meet heartfelt storytelling. “Pulp Memories” marks the first joint presentation of New York City-based artists Melissa Joseph and Julia Norton. These artists explore storytelling through innovative papermaking and painting techniques. Joseph’s vivid paintings on handmade paper translate the physicality of wool felting and ceramics into fluid, figurative gestures rooted in old family photographs. Norton’s natural-material assemblages connect abstraction to landscape and anatomy, incorporating handmade paper infused with fibers, like agave and alpaca wool, as well as found objects, such as stones and seed pods. Both artists’ works resonate with care, crafting a poignant narrative of memory, nature, and the intimate act of creation through labor-intensive processes and evocative subjects, offering viewers a tender and transformative experience.
