This weekend, Merry Karnowsky will celebrate the opening of two exhibitions- Lezley Saar’s solo exhibition “Monad”, alongside group show, “Parallel Universe.” It is a combination of artists who transport us into alternate realities with their art. For her previous exhibition at Merry Karnowsky, covered here, Lezley Saar touched upon divine aspects of womanhood in a 19th century inspired installation. This concept is apparent in her show “Monad”, after the Divine first being or totality of all beings. In these colorful portraits, Victorian style-dressed women appear in heavenly environments full of ambiguous iconography. Many religions have used the image of an eye in their religious symbolism. Saar’s night sky twinkles with tiny eyes, perhaps a reference to the Eye of Providence, or God’s all-seeing eye.
Lezley Saar
“Parallel Universe”, which features new pieces by Sashie Masakatsu, Caleb Brown, Nathan Ota, Seonna Hong, devNgosha, Travis Louie, and Hell’o Monsters, also plays on an other-worldly concept. Seonna Hong’s chilly lunar-like landscape and Sashie’s alienesque craft of broken tv’s portray ‘alternate reality’ as a physical space, while others reflect on their own existence. “Monad” by Lezley Saar and “Parallel Universe” opens September 6th at Merry Karnowsky gallery.
Seonna Hong
devNgosha
Sashie Masakatsu
Hell’o Monsters
Hell’o Monsters (progress)
This Saturday, 
Our next print issue of Hi-Fructose New Contemporary Art Magazine (which arrives in July) features a beautiful cover and feature and a beautifully-printed special 16-page insert by Travis Louie, we chase clouds with the murals and art of Sainer and the ETAM CRU, discover the animal portraits of Susan Siegel, Andy Gilmore's hallucinatory graphics, Eric Wert's intense still-lives, Shawn Huckins's modern painted text messaging meets old masters mash-ups, painter Casey Weldon's bright and bold surreal works, Mark Gmehling's 3D distortions, and a major feature on the art of Sam Wolfe Connelly! Plus we journey into hell in with a new stereoscopic book review and take a look at Dima Drjuchin's Lil Goof and more! 
As if the imminent shopping season weren't already scary enough, a new exhibition at the Stranger Factory in Albuquerque is spreading a little holiday cheer with a dash of nightmares. The gallery's annual "Winter Salon" exhibition, now in its fifth installment, has gathered the Circus Posterus collective around the Christmas tree to present a selection of smaller paintings and drawings, and several hand-painted figures that take us back to the Island of Misfit Toys. The exhibit has plenty toy-sized offerings by artists like Max Lehman, Keely Reichman, Chris Ryniak, Carisa Swenson, HF Vol. 32 cover artist Travis Louie, while Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas have collaborated on several scary-cute pieces.