Top Ten USA

Courtesy George Eastman House

At the George Eastman House: Unidentified photographer, "Wrestler El Santo on a Film Shoot at an Acapulco Beach" (1969)

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So many museums, so little time. If you can only see a few exhibitions this fall, here to help you choose is Museums magazine's handy guide to the season's best shows across the United States. Want more? See our Top Five Philadelphia and Top Five Boston, or check out our New York Fall Exhibition Preview. Also, check back soon for our Top Five London and Top 10 Europe. 

1. One of the most active photographers during the second half of the 20th century, Lee Friedlander has also been a passionate champion of the photographic book. “Making the ordinary extraordinary: Books and photographs by Lee Friedlander” includes a crucial sampling of the artist’s publications, as well as important books by Eugène Atget and E. J. Bellocq. On view until January 13, 2008, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

2. If you’re searching for the unexpected, this collection of indigenous art examines ideas outside the mainstream. “Remix: New Modernities in a Post-Indian World” features experimental artists who use a new language in innovative and unpredictable ways. At the Heard Museum in Phoenix, October 6 through April 27, 2008.

3. “Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967” considers the compelling connection between rock music and contemporary art. The show examines the impact of the genre on such artists as Andy Warhol, Mike Kelley, and Raymond Pettibon, while examining the influential art and music scenes in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Cologne. Head for the stage at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, until January 6, 2008.

4. The Art Institute of Chicago examines the use and meaning of the color gray in the work of Jasper Johns, who articulated all of his major works in this hue at some stage in his career. “Jasper Johns: Gray” runs from November 3 through January 6, 2008, and includes more than 130 works, some of which have never been exhibited before.

5. “Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape” examines the first, most experimental stage of the artist’s career, as he moved from a traditional style toward the looser brushstrokes and more vivid colors for which he is celebrated. At the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, October 7 through January 3, 2008.

6. This fall the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents a survey of an art scene that was once dismissed as regional but has since gained international importance. Including a look at “finish fetish” artists, as well as the styles and materials of assemblage and pop, “SoCal: Southern California Art of the 1960s and 70s” can be viewed until March 30, 2008.

7. In 1934, a collective of photographers in California called Group f.64 (after the smallest aperture possible) argued through their images for a new American photography of sharp focus and great depth of field. Compare their works with those of the soft-focus, painterly Pictorialists at the Phoenix Art Museum, where “Debating Modern Photography: Triumph of Group f.64” showcases both schools through December 30.

8. Featuring photos, videos, and fan memorabilia of the iconic masked professional wrestlers that have become symbols of Mexican and Mexican-American culture, “Lucha Libre! Masked Mexican Wrestlers” is part of a George Eastman House series dealing with extreme depictions of gender. On view through January 27, 2008.

9. A cutting-edge exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art presents contemporary paintings that employ animation concepts and technologies. Using digital technology and musical equipment, “Animated Painting” features the work of 14 contemporary artists and is on view from October 13 through January 13, 2008.

10. Build and program your own R2-D2 at “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.” Developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd., this exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry includes original models and props from all six films, as well as technological innovations that the series inspired. The show runs through January 6 in a galaxy not so far, far away.

"Top Ten USA" comes to ARTINFO from the fall 2007 issue of Museums magazine.