From the winter 2008 issue of Museums magazine comes this handy list of ten essential exhibits in various cities around the United States. Check back soon for Top 5 Boston, Top 5 Philadelphia, and Top 5 L.A, which highlight the best museum attractions on the coasts. Meanwhile, Top 5London and Top 10 Europe will get you started abroad.

1. British artist Tino Sehgals art is not about object making. In fact, there is no object at all. By instructing people to perform various acts he calls “situations,” Sehgal makes us question what an artwork is and the importance of experiencing art firsthand. “Tino Sehgal” is on view at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis through March 23.

2. After World War II, artists in the United States and Western Europe focused primarily on abstract art. Parts of Europe isolated from the West, however—such as the former East German city of Leipzig—had a well-developed figurative-painting movement. “Life after Death: New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection” explores this phenomenon. Through February 3 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City.

3. The celebrated quilt-maker Louisiana Bendolph and her mother, daughter, and daughter-in-law—members of the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collectiveare showcased in this exhibition of 12 striking, lavishly hued quilts. The Museum of International Folk Art presents “Gee’s Bend Quilts and Beyond: Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Thornton Dial & Lonnie Holley” until May 11.

4. Although his career as an artist lasted only ten years, Gordon Matta-Clarkwho was most prolific right before his death, in 1978—is now considered a major influence on several generations of artists. See his progressive oeuvre dealing with themes of architecture and Minimalism in “Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, from February 2 through May 4.

5. American painter Edward Hoppers 70-year career is given the spotlight at the Art Institute of Chicago. The show focuses on his output from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s, when he produced many of his best-known works. See for yourself why John Updike has characterized Hopper as “calm, silent, stoic, luminous, and classic.” “Edward Hopper” runs from February 16 through May 11.

6. After pursuing a career in special effects for Hollywood, sculptor Keith Edmier moved to New York City and joined the art world. The Hessel Museum of Art and Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, presents a survey of his work, “Keith Edmier: 1991–2007,” including a life-size reproduction of the interior of the ranch house where he grew up, until February 3.

7. Before the invention of photography and long before the Internet, images of loved ones were often displayed in lockets with detailed portraits fashioned inside them. These lockets were also used for documentary purposes and to exhibit one’s political leanings. Making up “Love Tokens: Portrait Miniatures from the Caroline A. Ross Collection” are 246 of these pendants, on view until March 2 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

8. More than 550 years ago, Italian Renaissance artist Lorenzo Ghiberti created three glorious gilt bronze panels for the doors of the baptistery of the Duomo in Florence, depicting scenes from the Old Testament. After 25 years of restoration, they are now traveling to four cities within the United States and then back to Florence, where they are intended never to leave again. Catch “The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece” at the Seattle Art Museum from January 26 through April 6.

9. What do Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, and Frank Stella have in common? They all made color-field paintings—canvases with large areas of solid colors as the key ingredient. “Color as Field: American Painting, 1950–1975” also includes the abstract Expressionist painters Sam Francis, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still, whose work inspired color-field painting. At the Denver Art Museum through February 3.

10. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego acquired Erwin Redls room-size light-emitting diode work Matrix II last year. Imagine pulsing blasts of light reflected in a room of fun-house mirrors, and you’ll have an idea of what this architectural intervention has in store. “Erwin Redl: Matrix II,” from January 13 through May 4. 

"Top 10 U.S." comes to ARTINFO from the Winter 2008 issue of Museums magazine.