"Keith Haring: 1978-1982" At The Brooklyn Museum

"Keith Haring: 1978-1982" at the Brooklyn Museum traces Haring's development from work influenced by the abstract expressionists to the kinetic, interlocking cartoon dogs, flying saucers and figures that populated his canvases in his prime. In between are Haring's fascination with linguistics, provocative newspaper tabloid collages, graffiti drawings that were ubiquitous throughout New York's streets and subway system from the early to mid 1980s (and which resulted in several arrests) and involvement with the downtown art and club scene of the period (the exhibit even includes a new wave and punk soundtrack). This exuberant artist, who tragically died in 1990 at 31 from AIDS-related complications, left behind work that revels in movement and imagination.

“Keith Haring: 1978-1982” continues through July 8, 2012, at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park; (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org.

"Ai Weiwei: According To What?" At The Brooklyn Museum

Why does the Chinese government have it in for Ai Weiwei, the country's most prominent international artist? The answer is made evident at the exhibit "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" at the Brooklyn Museum. As a result of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, thousands were killed–including thousands of students who were trapped and crushed in shoddily built schools. Ai had tons of rebar, reinforcement rods, straightened and stacked together, and he compiled a floor-to-ceiling list and recording of the names of the dead, all to official outrage. Ever the provocateur, he blew up the X-rays of his head after the police raided his home and gave him a bashing. He made a marble replica of surveillance cameras that Chinese police used to record his home. When the government evicted a feminist leader from her home and dumped her belongings in a road, Ai replicated her possessions and called it “Ye Haiyan’s Belongings.” The work shown above, "S.A.C.R.E.D.," is from a series of dioramas inside iron boxes into which one peers and sees scenes from the cell in which Ai was detained for 81 days, with ever-present guards. Indeed, Ai turns every means of oppression into art that reflects and indicts the Chinese government. Ai Weiwei's art represents a powerful statement of a courageous individual who refuses to bow to totalitarianism.

“Ai Weiwei: According to What?” continues through August 10, 2014, at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org

"Judith Scott: Bound and Unbound" at the Brooklyn Museum

The work of Judith Scott, on display at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, should intrigue anyone interested in contemporary sculpture. Scott encased found objects with string, rope, yarn and more fabrics for hours, weaving until her fingers bled. She had Down syndrome, was deaf and never spoke, and after over three decades in an institution, her sister brought her to the Creative Growth Arts Center in Oakland, California, which provides an outlet for artists with developmental and physical disabilities. While we can't know what the sculptures meant to Scott, her enigmatic work suggests totems or ritual objects. They can be enjoyed for their originality, shapes, vivid colors and textures. They also demonstrate the wellsprings of creativity that can be found in the art of the "outsider" and the marginalized.

“Judith Scott: Bound and Unbound” continues through March 29, 2015, at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, (718) 638-5000, www.brooklynmuseum.org

March 29, 2015, at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, (718