'THIS WILL HAVE BEEN: ART, LOVE & POLITICS IN THE 1980S'

Continuing: When memory's door slammed on the 1980s, it shut out a lot of tough-minded and highly topical art. Walker Art Center has revisited that troubled era (think AIDS crisis, race tension, Berlin Wall confrontation) with a show that's unexpectedly fresh and startlingly relevant. Its themes -- race and gender issues, affluence and envy, abuses of power -- are explored in paintings, photos, sculpture, videos and installations that volley ideas with lightning speed and pointed insight. Among the underappreciated artists: painters Robert Colescott and Jimmie Durham, sculptors Martin Puryear and Ashley Bickerton, filmmaker Nan Goldin and photographers Mike and Doug Starn. A rarely seen installation by Hans Haacke juxtaposes a pompous oil portrait of President Ronald Reagan with a photo of a massive nuclear-war protest at which he appears to be sneering. A portrait by black artist David Hammons depicts two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson as a blue-eyed blond. Like the rest of this show, "How Ya Like Me Now?" is still provocative and worth a repeat visit. (Ends Sept. 30. $6-$10; free after 5 p.m. Thu. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. 612-375-7600 or www.walkerart.org.)