Joan Snyder, PERPETUO, [Eternally], 2004

1) Medicine Wheel: An Installation by Michael Dowling at the Boston Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through Dec. 1, 2005. Every year, Michael Dowling transforms the Cyclorama into a site for reflection to commemorate World AIDS Day. The installation is remarkably moving, made no less so by the December 1st 24-hour vigil made up of people who are encouraged to meditate, recite poetry, dance, and play music in recognition of all those who have been affected by AIDS.

2) The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, through December 4, 2005. Never underestimate the power of the underdog. Even at a time when "glass ceilings" were nowhere near shattering, when minorities like Jews and so-called communist sympathizers were shut out of most of society, talented outcasts could still find refuge in the arts. More specifically, they found a haven at salons. Letters, films, memorabilia and notable works by the likes of artists such as Gustav Klimt and Medaro Rosso, depict the fascinating world of the salons. Typically the realm of another underclass -- women -- the show reveals just how feminine support and ingenuity championed the now-established stalwarts of 20th century culture. It illuminates how their efforts created venues to bring innovative work to the public at large, ultimately giving a brave new world an equally brave new culture. Don't miss the last days of this remarkable show.

3) Unfamiliar Territories: Oscar Palacio at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, through December 31, 2005. There are usually two kinds of landscape photographs: those that depict the land as virgin territory and those who attempt to underscore man's invasion of Mother Nature. The former approach tends to be romantic, the latter political. But in Palacio's photos invasion is much too strong a word. In his pictures, man doesn't so much trample the landscape as try to domesticate it with poignantly inadequate results. Palacio, however, is no cynic. He's not out to poke fun at these hapless efforts. Instead he lovingly captures these painfully touching attempts with lush color, haunting formal effects, and striking juxtapositions. The results are unabashedly beautiful images of quiet desperation.

4) Christian Jankowski: Everything Fell Together at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, through December 31, 2005. In Jankowski's videos, children spout art world rhetoric, underscoring the art world's pomposity; the artist calls psychics to predict his artwork's success; he arranges TV shows in which, as the guest, he says nothing but remains conspicuously present; he takes part in a religious service and then falls prone on the floor while the preacher talks about the power of contemporary art as "a bridge between religion, art, and television."; and in one of the best pieces, he sets up a film, turned away from us, and then leaves the scene only to miss what is accessible to our view -- the destruction of a skyscraper. Like a good Saturday Night Live commercial send-up, Jankowski's works traffic in the absurdity of our own world -- most often the art world -- in ways that humorous, uncomfortable and most importantly, apt.

5) The Art of Palestine at the Zeigeist Gallery, Cambridge, MA, through January 1, 2006. The holiday season with its goodwill and cheer is upon us. But lest we forget, the world is still a difficult and unhappy place for many people. Leave it to the Zeitgeist Gallery, which hosts theatrical performances that often tackle difficult topics -- to present a hard hitting show of Palestinian art. The works' raw display of emotion reminds us that human beings have yet to find a peaceful way to co-exist.

6) The 19th Drawing Show at the Boston Center for the Arts' Mills Gallery, Boston, MA, through Jan. 8, 2006. Thinking of home decorating? Your walls are a bit too drab? The 19th Drawing Show will shake your world up. The presentation is a straight shot of exuberance. For this year's exhibit, paper is a thing of the past. Like the earliest drawings known to man these pictures are drawn directly onto the wall. The scribblers include Neil Bender, Katherine Desjardins, Rebecca Doughty, Jessica Doyle, Tory Fair, Magda Fernandez, Anna Hammond & Amy Jean Porter, Nathan Lewis, Joseph McVetty, Necee Regis, Amy Ross, Nicholas Santore & Valerie Ferus, Kirsten Rae Simonsen and Nick Z & Mister Never. The techniques employed remain pretty standard fare, but they also suggest that much is gained by freeing drawing from its frame.

7) Michael Queenland: Photographs, Sculptures and Shaker Classics at the Massachusetts College of Art, Stephen D. Paine Gallery, Boston, MA, through January 10, 2006. Queenland's photos and sculptures are insidious. Spare, even minimal to the point of being hermetic, they seem impregnable. But, nonetheless, there is always something just intriguing enough -- packing peanuts held in place by spider webs, furniture that reduces us to the size of dolls, candles lit by electricity without an outlet in view -- to capture our attention. And, once captured, like some marvelous chance encounter, the works unleash their open-ended magic, designed to set off our own host of multi-faceted associations.

8) Joan Snyder: A Painting Survey, 1969-2005 at the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, through February 5, 2006. Synder hit the art world in the '70s and has been going strong ever since. Timed to coincide with a new monograph on the artist by Hayden Herrera, this mid-career survey re-enforces critical perceptions of Synder's impressive strengths as an abstract painter with strong feminist roots. In this artist's hands, paint, fabric, text, and symbols all combine into visual tour-de-forces. Like complex symphonies, every element is used for maximum expressive effect. Nothing is extraneous -- everything champions the eloquence and power of painting.

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