From the winter 2008 issue of Museums magazine comes a carefully considered list of the top five exhibitions in Los Angeles. In the near future you can expect Top Five Boston and Top Five Philadelphia for the best shows on the Atlantic Seaboard. Also look at Top 10 U.S.A. for the best museum attractions coast to coast. Top 5 London and Top 10 Europe will help you decide what to see across the seas. 

1. Takashi Murakami is known for defining the “Superflat” aesthetic in contemporary Japanese art (a combination of cartoons, pop culture, and design), his meticulous production values, and having his work produced in several Warhol-like “factories.” Here’s your chance to see more than 90 works under one roof. “© MURAKAMI” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, runs through February 11.

2. This selection of photographs by Mexico City’s Graciela Iturbide focuses on various communities—indigenous people in southern Mexico, East Los Angeles immigrants, and people living in difficult conditions near the U.S.-Mexico border. “The Goat’s Dance: Photographs by Graciela Iturbide” also includes a more recent series of landscapes. At the Getty Museum until April 13.

3. “Recent Acquisitions from the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts” presents contemporary and historical pieces drawn from this extensive collection of works on paper, including prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books. On view through March 9 at the Hammer Museum.

4. At a time when it seems like the world is in constant turmoil, “Disorderly Conduct: Art in Tumultuous Times,” at the Orange County Museum of Art, addresses the hot-button issues of the day, like political and social unrest, crime, and war. From February 3 through May 11.

5. Krishna, one of the major gods of the Hindu faith, takes center stage in “Tales of the Blue Lord” at the Norton Simon Museum. The main component of the exhibition is an 18th-century temple wall from Kerala, India, in which 12 individually carved panels— polychromed to a bright luster—illustrate separate views of Krishna’s life. Get your learn on and marvel at this Asian masterpiece until April 14.

"Top 5 L.A." comes to ARTINFO from the Winter 2008 issue of Museums magazine.