Mexican ceramics and Japanese art

Opens Friday: Colorful tiles and floral tableware are staples of Mexican ceramics, but there's a world of complex designs beyond them. "Out of the Labyrinth: Contemporary Mexican Ceramics" will feature sculpture and mixed-media installations by nine well established artists whose work ranges from Pop-style commentary to novel artifacts that suggest ancient tools, vessels and architecture. The minimalist container shown here is by Gustavo Pérez. Additional pieces are by Javier del Cueto, Eduardo Sarabia, Paloma Torres, Gloria Carrasco, Isadora Cuellar, Gerardo Azcúnaga, Xawery Wolski and Maribel Portela. (Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Fri., free. Northern Clay Center, 2424 E. Franklin Av., Mpls. Ends Nov. 8. 612-339-8007 or northernclaycenter.org)

For more than 30 years the Minneapolis Institute of Art has been quietly assembling a stellar collection of Japanese art, spanning centuries of calligraphy, prints, paintings, ceramics, lacquer, basketry and more. Recent bequests from St. Paul-born collector Mary Griggs Burke and Minneapolis milling heir Fred Wells and his wife, Ellen, have added world-class pieces. This weekend 16 galleries will open with more than 250 of their gifts. The museum's deputy director, Matthew Welch, will discuss the Burke gift at 2 p.m. Sunday; Andreas Marks, head of the Japanese and Korean art department, will talk at 3 p.m. about 20th-century prints in the Wells collection. Yamamura Kōka's 1921 image, shown here, depicts actor Morita Kan'ya XIII as Jean Valjean. (Exhibitions, free. $10 talks; registration recommended as lecture space is limited: 612-870-6323 or artsmia.org. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Av. S.)

Mary Abbe