some interesting exhibitions: Gottfried Helnwein, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz, etc

The Disasters of War 10, 2007.  Oil and acrylic on canvas.

http://www.helnwein.com/news/update/artikel_3327.html

http://crockerartmuseum.org/art/current-exhibitions

Sacramento: There's a major exhibition at Crocker Art Museum of Gottfried Helnwein's works, Gottfried Helnwein: Inferno of the Innocents, January 29, 2011-April 24, 2011. 

Beautiful Victim I, 1974.  Watercolor on cardboard.

Untitled, 1996.  Oil and acrylic on canvas.

Untitled, 1998.  Oil and acrylic on canvas.

Oath, 2000.  Oil and acrylic on canvas.

http://www.helnwein.com/werke/werke/home.html

For me, I'm not sure if Helnwein's images are really all that challenging, whether they rely more on ready-made referentiality as controversially evocative legerdemain or if that's exactly the profundity itself.  In any case, his works are impressive and well-done.  Above link to more works and info at his website.

The Yawner, 1771-83.  Tin cast.

Szepmuveszeti Muzeum, Budapest
http://mini-site.louvre.fr/saison18e/index_f.php?expo=messerschmidt&langue=en#/messerschmidt/introduction

http://www.neuegalerie.org/exhibitions/messerschmidt

Paris: Neue Galerie, NYC recently had the first exhibition dedicated to Franz Xaver Messerschmidt which in collaboration travels to the Louvre, January 28, 2011-April 25, 2011.  A catalogue is also available. 

Messerschmidt would be considered a schizophrenic these days, which led him to work on his famous character heads often modeled from himself. 

http://www.limmat.ch/schmid/fxm/

Above link to helpful website on Messerschmidt.

From Travelers, 2001-2010.  C-print.
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/humin/events

http://www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/upcoming/index.htm

Ann Arbor: Check out the exhibition at Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan featuring some of Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz's supermundane snow globes and photography, White Nights, January 24, 2011-March 16, 2011.  Another exhibition at Bellevue Arts Museum, Travelers: Objects of Dream and Revelation, August 26, 2011-December 31, 2011.

The Orchard at Night, from Islands, 2005.  C-print.

http://www.martin-munoz.com/main.html

More images and info at their website.

http://www.aperture.org/travelers.html

A recent book, Travelers (Aperture, 2008).  It's ok, but could've been better produced imho. 

http://www.cerealart.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=37&cat=Walter+Martin+and+Paloma+Munoz

You can get your own snow globe for $750 USD, three to choose from, each with a limited edition of 250.  Some may have sold out. 

Kinder!, 2006.  C-print.

Frank Kunert
http://collections.madmuseum.org/code/emuseum.asp?style=browse&currentrecord=1&page=seealso&profile=exhibitions&searchdesc=Future%20Exhibitions&searchstring=Future/,/greater%20than/,/0/,/false/,/true&action=searchrequest&style=single&currentrecord=2

NYC: There's still some time to go, but this forthcoming exhibition at Museum of Arts and Design is going to be awesome, Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities, June 7, 2011-September 18, 2011.  C'mon, it's really cool miniature stuff!!!

Brancusi 1928, 2003.  Digital print.

 http://www.joefig.com/home.html

Bureau de Sigmund Freud, 2002.  Mixed media.

http://www.charlesmatton.com/index.htm

NON-STOP ACTION, 1990.  Mixed media.

http://www.alanwolfson.net/index.htm

Included in the exhibition are work(s) by Martin & Munoz as well as by other faves Joe Fig and the amazing Charles Matton and Alan Wolfson.

Dwellings, 1981.  Mixed media. 

Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC

http://whitney.org/Collection/CharlesSimonds

Also, it's a chance to rediscover the works of Charles Simonds, some of the greatest site-specific pieces, mindfully sequestered.