Japanese prints evoke history, 'Polaroid montages' evoke magic

We frequently feel as if we catch glimpses of magic in art, but we seldom get to stare at it the way we do in the work of Bostonian John O'Reilly at Hosfelt. Many modern artists have used collage or assemblage to evoke the fractures that run like seams through our outer and inner lives. But none, not even Jess, has outdone O'Reilly.

Perhaps because he appears never to overlap cutout elements, O'Reilly prefers the term "Polaroid montages" for what he does.