Jason Rhoades, Four Roads

When Los Angeles-based artist Jason Rhoades (1965–2006) died unexpectedly at the age of 41, he left behind a body of work comprised of massive installations that are as physically complex as they are intellectually challenging. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), known since its opening in 1963 as an ardent champion of influential but under-recognized artists, took on the challenge of presenting the first comprehensive survey in the United States of Rhoades' all-embracing vision. On view from September to December 2013 and curated by ICA Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner, the show was organized principally around four room-sized sculptures dating from 1993 to 2006 that were borrowed from collectors in Europe. Using neon, plastic buckets, power tools, snaking wires, figurines, sound, and a vast range of other materials, including a V-8 engine, Rhoades' work evokes a raw, excessive, unapologetically American consumer culture run amuck. The show was accompanied by a substantial multi-author catalogue, and later traveled to Europe.