Nowhere: This exhibit features photographic works by four contemporary Cuban artists. The show concentrates on how exiles deal with global turmoil, issues of displacement, and social and political tensions in their adopted regions, and eschews commentary about Cuba's current political reality. Spain's Juan Pablo Ballester weighs in with five stunning Cibachrome prints from his series "Enlloc," the Catalonian word for nowhere. Alexandre Arrechea's The Garden of Mistrust packs a formidable wallop and projects the sobering reality that in our political climate, Big Brother's protection reaches into most facets of contemporary life. The powerful piece consists of a soaring metal tree with bushels of surveillance cameras on its branches. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through January 27. Alonso Art, 181 NW 36th St., Miami; 305-576-4142.
Shortcuts Between Reality and Fiction: At the Bass Museum, Le Fonds National D'Art Contemporain unveils nineteen major works — including videos, installations, and paintings — considered the most significant collection of contemporary art in France, marking the organization's debut in the United States. The burly exhibit offers a survey of avant-art produced in France since 1990. Thomas Hirschhorn's squalid installation Virus-Austelllung (Virus Display) alone is worth a visit. Hirschhorn is renowned for deploying politics and philosophy in works constructed from home-improvement materials, creating sprawling installations as raw intrusions into the sacrosanct exhibition space as a commentary on the West's exploitation of the underdeveloped world. His unflinching statement is not only a powerful metaphor for affluent societies diseased by festering contradictions, but is also the show's won't-be-fucking-denied pice de résistance. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through January 29. Bass Museum of Art, 2121 Park Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7530.
