spring 2012 art exhibits (local & regional)

Check out the Exhibitions page for Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D. C. to get the latest information on dates of exhibits at their museums, including the following art museums:
Hirshhorn, Sackler, Portrait Gallery, American Art, Freer, American Indian, National Design, Renwick, African Art, Ripley Center, among others.

When considering shows for your gallery reviews, check in advance to make sure there are contemporary pieces in the show (created within the past 5 years).
Also check the museum or gallery website in advance to see if there is a museum entry fee (Smithsonian museums are typically free admittance) or if there is a special exhibition fee.

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. (fee)

30 Americans show up through February 12, 2012

30 Americans showcases works by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades. This provocative exhibition focuses on issues of racial, sexual, and historical identity in contemporary culture while exploring the powerful influence of artistic legacy and community across generations.

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro: Are We There Yet? show up through March 11, 2012

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro: Are We There Yet? is the first exhibition in the United States of the Australian artists Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro. Commissioned by and created especially for the Corcoran, the exhibition is the third exhibition in the NOW at the Corcoran series, a program dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging and mid-career artists. Exploring the aspirations of space exploration and the physical realities of food consumption, the exhibition draws from American history, literature, pop culture, and current affairs.

Phillips Collection, Washington, D. C. (fee)

Intersections is a new series of contemporary art projects that explores—as the title suggests—the intriguing intersections between old and new traditions, modern and contemporary art practices, and museum spaces and artistic interventions. Whether engaging with the permanent collection or diverse spaces in the museum, the projects suggest new relationships with their own surprises.
Many of the projects also riff on the nontraditional nature of the museum's galleries, sometimes activating spaces that are not typical exhibition areas with art produced specifically for those locations.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (free)

Tristin Lowe: Mocha Dick show up through January 29, 2012

Tristin Lowe’s colossal sculpture Mocha Dick is a fifty-two-feet-long recreation of the real-life albino sperm whale that terrorized early 19th-century whaling vessels near Mocha Island in the South Pacific. Mocha Dick, described in appearance as “white as wool,” engaged in battle with numerous whaling expeditions and inspired Herman Melville’s epic Moby-Dick (1851). Lowe worked with the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia to make the sculpture: a large-scale vinyl inflatable understructure sheathed in white industrial felt.