Praise Shadows Sees New Light in Downtown Boston Gallery

In his 1934 book In Praise of Shadows, author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki writes, “Our ancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presently came to discover beauty in shadows.”

For Yng-Ru Chen, Tanizaki’s words inspired her to establish her art gallery, Praise Shadows. They served as “the basis to form my own thoughts about opportunities for artists,” Chen said. “I recognized the many needs my artist friends had.”

Much as how Tanizaki saw beauty in the shadows, Praise Shadows looked for the opportunities hiding in the shadows of artists’ careers.

Before moving back to Boston, where she had grown up, Chen worked extensively in New York City’s art scene. After graduating college “with a natural inclination to work in art, I ended up working at the Asia Society Museum,” Chen recalled. It was a tumultuous time, soon after 9/11, but also exciting. “People were calling all the time about Afghanistan, the Taliban, wanting resources about what was happening,” Chen remembered. “(It was) an incredible education: art as critical to everyday society, business, economic development.”

Chen went on to work at the PS1 Museum, now a part of the Museum of Modern Art, and later on at Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art. “It coincided with the growth of the Chinese antiquities market and the financial crisis of 2008 — all sorts of ups and downs in the art world,” Chen said.

More importantly, her time in New York helped her form strong connections and friendships with artists. Many of them now have their work showcased at Praise Shadows. “I now represent as their gallerist,” Chen said.

Initially, Praise Shadows began as a consultancy, with no physical location. “My path here was not planned at all. I never wanted to open a gallery,” Chen said, citing the risks of opening one. But in 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Chen came across a storefront for lease in Brookline.

“(The thought) popped in my head: Maybe I should open a gallery,” Chen said. “I felt it in my gut. I just decided to go for it there.”

Praise Shadows the art gallery was officially opened in December of 2020. “No one could physically gather,” Chen remembered, because of pandemic restrictions. But there was plenty of online PR — they were covered by publications such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

By their second exhibition in January 2021, the Museum of Fine Arts started buying artwork from the gallery for their permanent exhibition. “We were selling to the MFA and kept growing from there,” Chen said. “Artists who had spent their careers in New York realized what was going on in Boston. (They) were really happy.”

“We were in Brookline for five years. It served us well,” Chen continued. “But when I had to think of renewing the lease last year, I got to know Tiffany Chu, who was Mayor (Michelle) Wu’s chief of staff. I said to her, I wish the mayor could come to visit, but I’m in Brookline. Tiffany said, we really wish Praise Shadows was in Boston.”

In the summer of 2025, Chen started looking for suitable locations in Downtown Crossing, but Praise Shadows’ new home was not to be found until Thanksgiving. “It was very late in the game,” Chen said. “I knew I had to move out by the end of December.”

“I saw this space and it was perfect. Everyone who has seen it says it looks like a NYC Soho, Tribeca gallery. It has the same kind of bones and character,” Chen said. In addition, the building offered enough space for the gallery to house all their work, instead of storing some offsite like before.

Now, on the eve of their opening at 129 Kingston St in Boston’s Chinatown, Chen was excited for what the new location might bring. “Being downtown has changed a lot of things,” she said. “So many people coming through. An amazing amount of collaborative possibility between Praise Shadows and cultural institutions in Boston.”

More importantly, Chen saw the upcoming opening as an opportunity for the gallery to send the message that “people don’t have to pay admission to go in the gallery. They are welcome whenever we’re open to walk in and learn about this show.” Chen also highlighted the art shop within the gallery, which will be selling more affordable items about and by the same artists in the show, thereby making their work more publicly accessible.

“Momentum and support for us has only grown,” Chen said. Artists are being seen “and recognized in the global art sphere. We’re leveling up.”