Boston has a delightful new reason to stroll down the Avenue of the Arts. At the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), the solo exhibition Robert Lazzarini: metes and bounds invites visitors to look twice at objects they thought they knew — a lectern, a flag and a historic map — rebuilt with mathematically calculated twists that make the familiar feel wonderfully strange.
Lazzarini alters each object on a computer, then patiently rebuilds it in its original materials, complete with the gentle wear of long use. The star newcomers are two works commissioned by MAAM for this show: lectern (2026) and the Waldseemüller map, a twelve-part woodblock print based on the 16th-century map that first named the continent “America.” Three of the works were originally conceived for the United States Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, so Boston audiences can enjoy them at home — a fitting treat during the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations.
Guest curated by John Ravenal, the exhibition pairs these new pieces with selected works from the past twenty-five years, including Lazzarini’s undulating American flag (2022). His art lives in leading collections such as MoMA and the Hirshhorn, and here it fills the Sandra & David Bakalar Gallery with wit, craft and curiosity.
Best of all, MAAM is Boston’s only free contemporary art museum — admission is free, always. metes and bounds runs through February 28, 2027, at 621 Huntington Avenue, making it an easy, joyful stop for art lovers, students and families alike.
Photo: Mel Taing ’16 / MassArt Art Museum
