The Gallery

The pinkcomma gallery opens at a time of shifting design sensibilities in Boston. No longer exclusively clad in brick, a few recent institutional buildings in the city indicate an acceptance of fresh and adventurous architecture—reminiscent of the late modernist period when Boston’s new structures were a part of the international vanguard. Yet the work produced in the local establishment is often far from inventive or original. This gallery aims to foster and recognize a more creative, youthful, and experimental scene that has grown out of one of the world’s most significant capitals of architectural education. For all the city’s stodginess, Boston’s six architecture schools and their instructors have unleashed some of the most provocative figures on the world scene. Why hasn’t this culture permeated the city’s own architectural sense of itself?

It seems clear to us that such a culture is on the rise, yet is in desperate need of independent venues to foster its growth. pinkcomma showcases Boston’s new architectural underground—in a space that is literally and windowlessly subterranean. We hope to encourage broader popular support for this underground sensibility. At the same time, pinkcomma is a place for the exchange and expansion of ideas within Boston’s larger design scene, not just in terms of architecture, but also in the disciplines of landscape, graphics, urbanism, interiors, and industrial design, among many other fields.

pinkcomma exists outside Boston’s power circles, yet strives to make design more pivotal in the city’s political discourse. The gallery’s role is often activist in nature, promoting works that may be at times politically unpalatable or financially untenable, unpopular or unacknowledged. The gallery will highlight innovative thinkers of diverse interests who call Boston home. Their works offer us a window into the city’s design underground.

Mark Pasnik and Chris Grimley, Directors

pinkcomma is a division of over,under.

Current

Concrete Toronto, May 15-July 12.

After World War II, concrete became increasingly popular as a building medium around the world. Brutalism, the fashion for plain, heavy design, reigned. Toronto was particularly affected. The city has concrete buildings of all stripes – international landmarks, metropolitan infrastructure and even the single family home. Hundreds of these structures were built, including Viljo Revell’s groundbreaking New City Hall, John Andrew’s seminal Scarborough College and the record-smashing CN Tower. Toronto is a city cast in concrete. Concrete Toronto acts as a guide to the city’s extensive concrete heritage. A diverse group of experts has been assembled to re-examine the uniqueness and value of these buildings. Included are the insights of many of the original concrete architects, university faculty, local practitioners, journalists and industry experts. Together they explore the past and future of Toronto’s concrete buildings.

Upcoming

Concrete Boston (Fall 2009)

Publishing Practices (Fall 2009)

More information is available here.

• Gallery Hours:
• Mondays through Fridays 10:00-5:00 or by appointment.

News

The pinkcomma gallery was selected as the readers' pick for best art gallery by the Weekly Dig as part of its 2008 Dig This Awards.

The Boston Globe has ranked gallery co-director Chris Grimley and his wife Kelly Smith of Etcetera Media among the 25 most stylish Bostonians for 2008.

Gallery co-director Mark Pasnik presented the activities of the pinkcomma gallery at Auburn, Carnegie Mellon, and Columbia Universities during the fall of 2008.

The exhibition "Rethinking Boston City Hall," which originated at pinkcomma gallery, traveled in May to the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas.

The pinkcomma gallery appears in the March and April 2008 issues of The Architect and the May issue of Architectural Record.