The Broad

Takashi Murakami will be the center of the Broad’s specially ticketed spring exhibition, alongside a second exhibition that explores the symbolism of the American flag. Both will be on display in the museum’s first-floor galleries from May 21 to September 25, 2022. All of the Murakami pieces in the Broad’s collection will be on view in “Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow.” Known for his colorful smiling flowers and cartoonish pop art murals, you’ll be able to see 18 works from the contemporary Japanese artist, as well as some to-be-detailed immersive environments from the artist’s studio. “This Is Not America’s Flag” will feature pieces from 20 artists who’ve both championed and challenged the symbolism of the stars and stripes and channeled that into their own works. Born out of the summer of 2020’s grassroots movements for racial justice, the exhibition includes Jasper Johns’s Flag and David Hammons’s African-American Flag, as well as works from Laura Aguilar, Nicole Eisenman, Jeffrey Gibson, Hank Willis Thomas and Alfredo Jaar (whose A Logo for America inspired the exhibition’s name). Timed tickets for both exhibitions, which also include access to the otherwise free third-floor galleries, go on sale Friday, April 15 at 10am and cost $18 for adults and $12 for students, and are free for children 17 and under. The museum notes that it’ll also announce some free days at a later time.

Spend a late night at the Broad during the return of its after-hours programming series, which finds musicians, dancers and poets collaborating in the museum’s outdoor plaza as well as in gallery spaces. Tickets for each event include full access to the museum and its concurrent exhibitions, “Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” and “This Is Not America’s Flag.” Thundercat and Arooj Aftab top this year’s lineup.

Sink deep into the sounds of these immersive audio installations at the Broad. “Resonant Tones” will turn the museum’s Oculus Hall (that’s second-floor multi-purpose room behind the building’s belly-button–like window) into a stage for a number of performances: a sound bath by Kelli Anna Gendalå and Karen Marie (Aug 18); Ü & EYE, a spatial sound performance by Lykke Li (Sept 1–4); and I See You, a vocal piece composed and performed by Odeya Nini (Sept 8). Admission is free with a museum reservation.

See charcoal drawings, animated films, sculptures and theater models from the South African artist during this exhibition about the Broad, which focuses on Kentridge’s paradoxes of light and shadow.