A new group show at Mass MoCA explores kinship in a time of pandemic with works by Laura Aguilar, Chloë Bass, Maren Hassinger, Eamon Ore-Giron, Clifford Prince King and Kang Seung Lee.

Kinship is a feeling of intimacy, a nurturing and restorative force, a sense of belonging and of refuge. At its best, kinship is a form of care that enables renewal. Close to You gathers the work of six artists who probe the capacity of the visual arts to conjure feelings of nearness to others and to ourselves.

Through kin often means family, connections of biology and of blood, the artists define ot more fluidly, holding up queer, amorphous, and solitary forms of intimacy, acknowledging the affinities that we feel with people, places and histories. They look into feelings of recognition and rejuvenation that emerge within everyday spaces among friends, in the deserts of the American Southwest, in the warmth of embrace, in a feeling of connection with someone from the past, whether or not their story is known.

Close to You was organized during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Opening a year into this crisis, the exhibition invites audiences to reflect upon kinship in the wake of loss — of life, of normalcy, of togetherness — with the hope of providing a space for respite and renewal, even if only for a moment.