Art beat: February gallery and exhibit openings

Art exhibits on display in February around San Diego include Look to the Stars, Hearts on Fire and Groundbreaking Girls.

Through 2.3: The AjA Project presents Collective Voices: The Power of Empathy

A collaboration through The AjA Project and United Women of East Africa featuring three collaborative photography pieces that focus on mental health and building unity in Emotion Portraits and the Power of Radical Listening, Beyond Borders: Anger, Destruction, and Rebuilding and A Retrospective: Expectation and Reality.

San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.236.0011, sandiego-art.org

Through 4.7: Look to the Stars

Inspired by the Stephen Hawking quote “look to the stars…” the Canyon Quilters answered this quilting challenge by creating works based on the quote, interpreted in their own, personal way.

Visions Art Museum, 2825 Dewey Rd., Ste. 100, Liberty Station, 619.546.4872, visionsartmuseum.org

2.1-22: Hearts on Fire

These “symbols, scenes, and stories of love” are created by artists 18 and older, and judged by multi-media artist Daniel Marquez, who has been influenced in his work by surrealist painters and maintains an interest in indigenous rituals and spirituality.

Brandon Gallery, 105 Main Ave., Fallbrook, 760.723.1330, fallbrookbrandongallery.org

2.1-4.28: Groundbreaking Girls

What started as an artist’s search for inspiration after the death of a spouse has led to painting the portraits of strong, empowering women throughout history.

Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Rd., Ste. 103, Liberty Station, 619.233.7963, womensmuseumca.org

2.9-3.2: June Stratton: Modern Dryads

Artist June Stratton uses the emotions from her dreams and combines them with elements of nature, symbols and her point of view as a woman to tell her stories in this exhibit.

Distinction Gallery, 317 E. Grand Ave., Escondido, 760.707.2770, distinctionart.com

2.16-6.30: Christian Marclay: Telephone

A combination of popular culture while examining human nature and emotion, this exhibit uses clips of phones ringing and being answered, including scenes featuring Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, the 1983 film Mr. Mom and the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle.

San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.232.7931, sdmart.org

2.16-3.24: Deviate / Landscape

The artists featured in this exhibit use contemporary approaches like painting, photography, installation, and video to imagine a landscape as a constructed and deconstructed space.

San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.236.0011, sandiego-art.org

2.16-3.24: Trinh Mai: That We Should Be Heirs

A collaborative work that uses handwritten letters as a form of healing, participants are encouraged to submit letters that document the stories of immigrants in native tongues, survivors of tragedy and hardship, and stories of triumph that will be bound and rolled to remain private while part of this installation.

San Diego Art Institutem, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.236.0011, sandiego-art.org

2.22-6.2: Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen

MacArthur Award-winning artist Trevor Paglen is described as “a conceptual artist with activist intentions” and this exhibit presents his early photography along with his more recent sculptures, and his work with artificial intelligence.

MCASD Downtown, 1100 & 1001 Kettner Blvd., downtown, 858.454.3541, mcasd.org

2.23-5.12: Matthew Barnes: Painter of the Night

This is a rare solo exhibition of the imagist, surrealist and expressionist work of artist Matthew Barnes, an “original master of California ‘noir,’” who created darker, more shadowy landscapes that were the opposite of the sunnier side of the state.

Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, 760.435.3720, oma-online.org