Dates
On view: June 26 - September 13, 2026
Opening Reception: June 26, 5-7pm
About the exhibition
The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) is pleased to announce Pyrite Radio, a solo exhibition of sculpture, audio, and video by the late artist and educator Peter Simensky (1975-2023). Born and raised in Maine and a former faculty member in the MFA in Studio Art program at MECA&D, Simensky worked with artist communities nationally and internationally before his passing in 2023. The exhibition marks the East Coast premiere of his radios and opens with a public reception at the ICA on Friday, June 26, from 5:00–7:00 pm. Pyrite Radio will remain on view through September 13, 2026.
In Pyrite Radio, Peter Simensky extends his longstanding exploration of gold, currency, and systems of value into the domain of underground radio, actively circumventing regulated modes of communication and reorienting points of connection. Employing iron pyrite, a material historically associated with failed fortune-seeking in the American West, Simensky utilizes the properties of “fool’s gold” as a covert transmitter of information. By “tuning in” to just the right frequency—i.e., poking at a rock—various local AM radio stations can be heard, including those coming from the transmissions within the gallery. These crystal radios oscillate between scientific and intuitive methods of working, constantly requiring exploration, discovery, and comfort in the unknown. In Pyrite Radio, value shifts away from the physical object and concepts of ownership into the mystery and complexity of community-building.
Pyrite Radio engages perception through glistening, sprightly objects that attract audiences with their visual qualities. The pyrite and its faceted surfaces serve as the central element of the work, both reflecting light and capturing sound. The radio sculptures, which take the form of stands, chimes, and boxes, are adorned with colorful plastic beads, sparkling sequins, and whimsical children’s umbrellas. Pieces of iridescent plexiglass, coated wire, and golden emergency blankets function as antennae for the low-powered AM transmitters. Hardware components and outsourced sound equipment are incorporated throughout for both technical and non-technical functions, demonstrating Simensky’s propensity for imperfect systems.
Existing as both an exhibition of artworks and a platform for collaboration, Pyrite Radio is continuously activated with sound. Throughout the exhibition, selected artists, musicians, DJs, writers, and radio stations—including previous collaborators and new partners from near and far—engage with the radios by broadcasting a variety of programs. These collaborators, like Simensky, accept the radios' temperamental nature and prioritize experimentation and dissonance. By combining formal and technical strategies with togetherness and joy, Pyrite Radio interrogates complex histories and hierarchies to shift focus towards an alternative value system: collective engagement and the importance of our shared relationships.
Peter Simensky’s Pyrite Radio, along with the concurrent ICA group exhibition A Sea of Particles, collectively represent the third installment of the ICA at MECA&D’s Getaway! exhibition series, exploring the power and pitfalls of escapism as a reaction to the question, “What do we do in response to our current crises?”. These group and solo exhibitions unpack various topics within the broader theme of escapism, examining both the complex impulses that drive us away from challenging circumstances and the destinations and activities we pursue when we do. Through diverse research and artistic practices, this series aims to provide a space for imagination, equipping our communities, both within and beyond MECA&D, with new tools to create the worlds they envision.
Pyrite Radio is organized by Director of Exhibitions Iris Williamson, with support and guidance from many friends, family, and colleagues of Peter Simensky. Additional support from MECA&D student researchers Francesca Woolson ‘26, Carolyn Day ‘26, Violet Barr MFA ‘27, and Katie Devlin ‘27. Production management is handled by Exhibitions Manager Sarah Sawtelle '19 and Exhibitions Assistant Caroline Kouba '22. Design by Omnivore.
Further details will be announced in June about audio-based collaborations with regional, national, and international sound-based artists, radio stations, and organizations. All programs are free and open to the public; additional programming will be announced. For more information, visit meca.edu/ica.
About Peter Simensky
Peter Simensky (b. 1975, Maine; d. 2023, California) was a transdisciplinary artist who explored value and the volatility of art objects through sculpture, print, video, and sound, among other mediums. He received a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and an MFA from Hunter College, CUNY. Simensky’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego, CA); the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Portland, OR); Museum 52 (New York, NY); 500meter Museum (Sapporo, Japan); Project Row Houses (Houston, TX), and posthumously at Outlook Is__ Projects (Los Angeles, CA) and The Lab (San Francisco, CA). Simensky’s performances and installations have been featured at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Los Angeles, CA), the Swiss Institute (New York, NY), the Wattis Institute (San Francisco, CA), the ICA San Francisco (San Francisco, CA), the 18th Street Art Center (Santa Monica, CA), the de Young Museum (San Francisco, CA), The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (San Rafael, CA); Sculpture Center (Queens, NY); Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France); Mass MOCA (North Adams, MA), Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York, NY); and Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens, NY). Simensky received multiple grants and awards, including a NYFA Fellows Grant, an Oregon Arts Commission/Ford Family Opportunity Grant, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants, and residencies including MacDowell Colony, La Tallera Proyecto Siqueiros, and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. He has been featured in multiple publications including Cabinet Magazine, Artforum, New Yorker, and more. He taught at Maine College of Art & Design; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Stanford University; New York University; and University of California, San Diego; and was a Chair of Visual Art Studies MFA at Pacific Northwest College of Art and, most recently, Chair of Graduate Fine Arts at California College of the Arts.
Events
- July Portland First Friday Art Walk: Friday, July 3, 2026, 5:00-8:00 pm, The ICA at MECA&D
- Pyrite Radio Broadcast: DJ Ben Spalding, FANTASY CLUB 01: HONEY, BABY (for Peter): Friday, July 3, 2026, 5:00-8:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D
The ICA will broadcast an audio set by DJ Ben Spalding via shortwave AM to Peter Simensky's pyrite radios during July's First Friday Art Walk.
- Pyrite Radio Broadcast: Aki Onda, A Method to its Madness and Midnight Radio: Friday, July 10, 2026, 3:30-5:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D
On Friday, July 10, Pyrite Radio will broadcast a past collaboration by artist, composer, and curator Aki Onda in the ICA at MECA&D. Onda's A Method to its Madness and Midnight Radio were previously broadcast in Pyrite Radio—Dispatch at ICA SF in 2022.
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Aki Onda is an artist, composer, performer, and curator whose work is often catalyzed by—and structured around—memories: personal, collective, and historical. Crossing genres and disciplines, they have been active internationally in art, film, music, and performance. Their collaborators include Michael Snow, Ken Jacobs, Paul Clipson, Raha Raissnia, Ho Tzu Nyen, Loren Connors, Alan Licht, Annea Lockwood, David Toop, and Akio Suzuki. Onda has presented work at venues and festivals worldwide, including The Kitchen, MoMA, MoMA PS1, New Museum, Blank Forms, ICA Philadelphia, REDCAT, the Time-Based Art Festival, Walker Art Center, Novas Frequências, documenta 14, the Louvre Museum, Pompidou Center, Palais de Tokyo, Fondation Cartier, Argos, Bozar, ICA London, La Casa Encendida, CaixaForum, Serralves Museum, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Nam June Paik Art Center.
- Pyrite Radio Broadcast: AFTERSOUND presents John Fireman, Grace Bedwell, Jason Gibbs, Cyparissus, Ron Harrity, and annie dodson: Friday, July 17, 2026, 3:30-5:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D
Aftersound is an ongoing listening and performance series focused on multi-channel / spatial audio performances and installation works presented in non-traditional performance spaces. aftersound.me/residency
- Pyrite Radio Broadcast: Salt Radio Hours: Friday, July 24, 2026, 2:00-5:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D
The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies will present a special one-time pirate rebroadcast of a selection of our "Salt Radio Hour" shows, which aired on WMPG from 2020-2023. You'll hear stories about the Valentine's Bandit, the solar eclipse, great white sharks, seeing eye dogs, the last video rental store in Maine, and much more.
It Fits Perfectly - Sierra Fitch
Deep Water - Tony Williams
Pequod, or, The Lifeboat - Emily Reeves
Uncharted - L Clark Tate
Sadie Has the Eyes - Myra Morehart
The Final Girl - Laura Boach
Red Paper Hearts - Anisa Vietze
Sex Buyers Wanted - Celia Morton
Digging for Blue Gold - Catherine Nouhan
Doubly Dead - Jacqui Fulton
Whosetopia? - Anna Olivia McClain
Through the Trees - Kasha Houlihan
What’s Your Number? - Anja Nilsson
Game Night - Margaret Sutherl
Movie Person - Iru Ekpunobi
Dianna and the Shed - Miki Bloomfield
Seven Characters - Bianca Garcia
Houlton and the Big Quiet - Samantha Watson
- August Portland First Friday Art Walk: Friday, August 7, 2026, 5:00-8:00 pm, The ICA at MECA&D
- Pyrite Radio Broadcast: Wave Farm, Excerpt from Wave Farm Audio Buffet, August 2023: Friday, August 21, 2026, 4:00-5:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D
As Wave Farm’s artist-in-residence in August 2023, Peter Simensky designed an installation of his pyrite radios along the walking paths of Wave Farm’s Art Park. These sound-sculptures were activated during the eighth annual live performance and broadcast event Audio Buffet that took place on August 5, 2023 at Wave Farm in Acra, New York. Audio Buffet was an annual event inspired by Pauline Oliveros and IONE’s generous donation of their 32-channel mixing board in 2015. Acoustic and electronic sound artists in the greater Hudson Valley region came together outside in our forested Art Park for a live collaborative and improvisational broadcast on Wave Farm Radio: WGXC 90.7-FM.
In conjunction with Peter Simensky: Pyrite Radio, tune in to a one-hour excerpt from the 2023 Audio Buffet on August 21 at 4:00pm.
Wave Farm is a transmission arts organization driven by experimentation with the electromagnetic spectrum. We cultivate creative practices in radio and support artists and nonprofit organizations in their cultural endeavors. For more information visit wavefarm.org
- September Portland First Friday Art Walk: Friday, September 4, 2026, 5:00-8:00 pm, The ICA at MECA&D
All programs are free and open to the public; additional programming will be announced. For more information, visit meca.edu/ica.
Reading Guide
Please click here to view the reading guide for Pyrite Radio.