The Art Institute of Chicago has recently commissioned Katharina Fritsch for a site-specific, sculptural installation. The German artist’s curious cast of characters–oversized versions of a hand, fern fronds, an apple, an egg, a human skull, St. Michael, and a Madonna, among others–will be on display on the Bluhm Family Terrace atop the museum’s Modern Wing through October 28, 2012. These nine brightly colored sculptures, divided up into three distinct groups of works (1. Stilleben/1st Still Life, 3. Stilleben/3rd Still Life, and Apfel/Apple) , were produced between 2009 and 2012. Fritsch’s fastidiously crafted objects–rendered in bronze, copper, plastic, and epoxy–offer visitors an alternative, perhaps unsettling, view of these often iconic forms.

Albert Oehlen
Gagosian Gallery Rome
8 June – 27 July 2012
Gagosian Gallery Rome is pleased to announce an exhibition of new large-scale drawings by Albert Oehlen. Born in 1954 in Krefeld, Germany, Oehlen studied in Hamburg with Sigmar Polke and worked closely alongside Martin Kippenberger.

Dwayne Wilcox: Above the Fruited Plains
Missoula Art Museum
June 1 – October 21, 2012
Missoula Art Museum is delighted to host Dwayne Wilcox: Above the Fruited Plains. Wilcox’s approach is quite simple; he uses graphite and colored pencils to alter old ledger paper. Ledger Art has a rich history with the Plains people, but like many contemporary artists, Wilcox uses the ledger paper as a platform for contemporary expression.

Avengers Assemble!
Cartoon Art Museum Exhibition
May 12 – October 21, 2012
The Cartoon Art Museum celebrates five decades of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with Avengers Assemble!, an exhibition featuring some of the most iconic characters in comic book history, including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, The Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Widow and The Incredible Hulk.

Art Crafting towards the Future
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Saturday, April 28 – Friday, August 31, 2012
“Art Crafting towards the Future” inquires into the contemporary validity of kôgei (Japanese artisan craft) and universalness of its appeal.”