"Richard Butler" and "Midori Harima": In Richard Butler's first solo show at the Kevin Bruk Gallery, the subjects of his lavish oil on canvas works are mostly family and friends, but Butler furiously distorts their features and bodies, making their skin appear pitifully wan and charged with a presence that's difficult to shake off. He often paints them in masks and drapes them in menacing black gear, or maroons them in bleak natural settings, or places them under deceptively peaceful skies, adding to their pervasive sense of loneliness, alienation, and unease. Openly riffing on the Mannerist style, Butler, the former frontman for the Psychedelic Furs, makes harmony out of these discordant elements, creating psychologically freighted works that strike a haunting note in every bar. Also making her solo debut at the gallery, Japanese artist Midori Harima creates unusual paper sculptures by taking pictures from publications, photocopying them in black and white, and pasting them together to create fragile, evocative forms. All of the works are colored like dead fish in luminous or muted grays, giving them the veneer of otherworldly apparitions. Neither of these artists has exhibited their work in Miami before; by bringing them together at the same time, Kevin Bruk seems to be making a statement that he's happy to kick back and pick off his competitors like pigeons off a power line. — Carlos Suarez de Jesus Through May 5. Kevin Bruk Gallery, 2249 NW First Pl., Miami. Call 305-576-2000, or visit www.kevinbrukgallery.com.
"Sweet Bird of Youth": This photo-based exhibit, curated by Claire Breukel, features selections from the Debra and Dennis Scholl collection that focus on an evolution of time and place based on the mundane. Breukel has combined imagery of banal, barren landscapes with the loaded rituals of female adolescence to convey a sense of youth trapped in transitional spaces. Artists Breukel has chosen from the collection include Rineke Dijkstra, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Anna Gaskell, and Gordon Matta-Clark. — Carlos Suarez de Jesus Through May 12. World Class Boxing, 170 NW 23rd St., Miami. Call 305-438-9908, or visit www.worldclassboxing.net.
"Sol LeWitt x 2":Sol LeWitt earned himself a place in history books as one of the Johnny Appleseeds of the minimal and conceptual art movements during the Sixties. He's also among the most prolific artists of the mid-Twentieth Century. "Sol LeWitt x 2," a two-part exhibition at the Miami Art Museum (MAM), offers fertile ground to explore both the artist's influential work and the contemporary art collection he has created over the past 50 years. Featuring 45 works on paper and sculptures, "Sol LeWitt: Structure and Line" provides a broad look at the artist's oeuvre, spanning from his early grid-based modular constructions of the Sixties to his recent series of Scribble drawings making their debut at MAM. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through June 3. Miami Art Museum, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami. Call 305-305-375-3000, or visit www.miamiartmuseum.org.
