October 7, 2008 
Top 10 Winter Museum Shows in the U.S.By William Hanley
Published: December 13, 2006
From California to Kansas, blockbuster to surprise hit, there are excellent exhibitions to see this winter at museums all over the country. ArtInfo’s sister publication, Museums New York, offers this highlight list of some of the not-to-be-missed shows.
--------------- Like a vernacular Madison Avenue, Mexican street artists promote everything from sidewalk vendors to wrestling matches with homespun and often beautiful graphics. Their work makes the move from the street to the gallery in “Sensacional! Mexican Street Graphics” at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, through March 4. --------------- Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica is best known for his interactive installation work—such as Tropicália (1967), for which the influential 1960s movement was named. To demonstrate how the artist arrived at his signature style, “Hélio Oiticica: The Body of Color” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gathers work from throughout his career, much of it on view for the first time, through April 1. --------------- The Phoenix Art Museum inaugurates its new Fashion Design Galleries with an appropriately elegant show of 25 evening dresses by masters of the form, including Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior. “After Dark: 100 Years of Evening Dresses” chronicles a century of trend-setting and head-turning designs through April 1. --------------- An exhibition of Francis Bacon’s formative work at the Milwaukee Art Museum gives the spotlight to imagery that would go on to define the archetypically tormented artist’s career: disintegrating figures and claustrophobic interiors. On view January 27-April 15, “Francis Bacon in the 1950s” also holds a few surprises, including Bacon’s little-known African and French landscapes. --------------- Despite—or perhaps because of—grim headlines and a prevalent feeling of political discontent, many American and European artists have strategically employed humor to critically engage with or outright mock modern life. Works by Christian Jankowski, Dana Schutz, John Waters and the many other artists in “Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art” demonstrate the trend at the Salina Art Center, Salina, Kan., January 26-April 22. --------------- A decadent new show at the Saint Louis Art Museum would make Oscar Wilde proud, with jewel-toned paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Frederick Sandys and other mid-19th-century aesthetes. “Waking Dreams: The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites from the Delaware Art Museum presents their scenes drawn from literature and mythology, along with equally over-the-top decorative art from the era, February 18-April 29. --------------- A change of scenery can influence any artist, but photographers seem particularly prone to making major stylistic changes while traveling. “Far from Home: Photography, Travel and Inspiration,” at The Art Institute of Chicago January 20-May 6, looks at memorable journeys, such as Walker Evans visit to Cuba and Swiss-born Robert Franks American road trip. --------------- Jennifer Steinkamp’s immersive projections can be difficult to classify. While her aesthetic is beholden to the computer that makes it possible, her execution is painterly, giving her work an expressionistic dimension as well—not to mention a generous amount of hallucinatory fun. The first career-spanning survey of her work comes to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo., February 16-May 13. --------------- Kara Walker uses the seemingly polite art of cut-paper silhouettes to tell incongruously confrontational stories about racial and sexual subjugation. Her work has long been critically celebrated, but her first solo show at an American museum debuts at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, February 17-May 13, before embarking on a national tour. |
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