Visual art
WU TSANG: OF WHALES
Worcester-born Tsang crafts film, video, and performance pieces, often at grand scale. This work, an immersive film experience, is one part of her trilogy that riffs on off Herman Melville’s “MobyDick,” using the perspective of a sperm whale as it dives more deeply than any other mammal for up to an hour at a time in search of its prey. Made using the Unity gaming platform with XR (extended reality) technologies, it’s a deep dive, if you’ll pardon the pun, into life beneath the waves. Through Aug 4. Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-4783100, icaboston.org
NANCY ELIZABETH PROPHET: I WILL NOT BEND AN INCH Prophet, who was of Black and Native American descent, was among the first known women of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design in the early 20th century. She left the US for Paris early in her career, as many Black American artists did, finding greater acceptance and freedom in its cosmopolitan, avant-garde environment than at home; but it also meant that she’s been largely overlooked in the US. This exhibition finally brings her home, exploring her legacy as a groundbreaking Modern sculptor. Through Aug. 4. RISD Museum, 20 North Main St., Providence. 401-454-6500, risdmuseum.org
ROBERT FRANK AND TODD WEBB: ACROSS AMERICA, 1955 Two photographers, one American, one Swiss, who helped capture the United States at the critical crossroads of the postwar era, are the subject of this compelling exhibition at the Addison Gallery of American Art. 1955 is the year Frank, the Swiss, embarked on the his cross-country road trip that would result in his iconic book, “The Americans,” the result of a Guggenheim Foundation grant. Unbeknownst to him, an American photographer, Todd Webb, was on the road with Guggenheim grant money, too, but instead of driving, Webb made his trek on public transit, bicycle, and on foot, a sloweddown perspective in public space that made the journey itself a trenchant presence all its own. Through July 31. Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, 3 Chapel Ave., Andover. 978-749-4015, www.addisongallery.org