5 gallery shows to brighten January for Twin Cities art lovers

The Minneapolis Institute of Art and Walker Art Center won't reopen until Jan. 28, but galleries are already welcoming art lovers back. Here are five new shows you can check out in person as long as you wear a mask and practice social distancing.

Teresa Audet, Martha Bird and Amy Usdin get hands-on in their art during a time when touch feels almost forbidden. Their work is part of "Woven," opening Jan. 15 in the Inez Greenberg Gallery at Bloomington Center for the Arts. In another exhibition, located in the Atrium, Bob Schmitt uses Chinese-style brushwork to create paneled paintings of iconic Minneapolis scenes. (8 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon., Tue. & Thu.; 8-4:30 Wed. & Fri. 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington. 952-563-8575 or artistrymn.org. "Woven" ends Feb. 19, Schmitt Feb. 26)

The city is covered in white, but Kolman & Pryor Gallery wants to bring color back. The gallery continues its "color series" of shows with "Part 4: Orange," featuring work by Betsy Ruth Byers, Kate Casanova, Jil Evans, Kelly Jean Ohl, Jodi Reeb, Julie Snidle and Cameron Zebrun. "Oranges show up right before something dramatic or violent happens," said gallery co-founder Patrick Pryor. Indeed, orange may be the color of warning, but it's also one of warmth. The gallery opened the cautiously colored "Part 3: Yellow" last February, weeks before the pandemic hit. Who knows what orange will bring? (Noon-4 p.m. Sat; 5-9 p.m. first Thu. of the month, and by appointment. Northrup King Building, Suite 395, 1500 NE. Jackson St., Mpls. kolmanpryorgallery.com or 612-385-4239. Ends April 3)

Inaugural McKnight fiber-artist fellows Eun-Kyung Suh and Liz Miller take over the Textile Center's Mondale Gallery with their solo exhibitions. Suh's work ruminates on life and death cycles. For this series, she visited rural and small-town Minnesota, collecting strangers' personal and discarded textiles, repurposing and digitizing them into a hivelike shelter. Artist Liz Miller creates site-specific environments using contrasting materials, such as nylon jersey mesh with elegant decorative fabrics. (Open by appointment 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 3000 University Av. SE., Mpls. 612-436-0464 or textilecentermn.org. Ends March 13)

"The Garden," a luscious new body of work by Excelsior-born, internationally acclaimed fashion photographer and artist Erik Madigan Heck, stimulates the eyes, heart and mind. Heck illuminates the seemingly banal topic of everyday life, imbuing it with a sense of beauty. A woman in white stands in a field, framed by a shimmering blue sky and trees. In another photograph, a streak of red paints a field. A week after his exhibition closes Jan. 23, the gallery will celebrate its 25th year with "Music Box," a group exhibition about musical expression. (Noon-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. by appointment only; 908 W. 46th St., Mpls. weinsteinhammons.com or 612-822-1722)

Hair + Nails Gallery co-owners Kristin Van Loon and Ryan Fontaine jammed 60 artworks by 23 artists into their small south Minneapolis storefront. A collision of contrasting feelings mirror the difficult reality of America right now, hence the exhibition's name. Half of the artists are local. Be sure to catch Chicago-based artist Moises Salazar's fabulous mixed-media work of a purple-skinned boxer with a golden halo against a pink furry background. (By appointment only; 2222½ E. 35th St., Mpls. E-mail hairandnailsart@gmail.com. Ends Jan. 31)

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