FRIDAY-SUNDAY
St. Paul Fall Art Crawl
The St. Paul Art Crawl first popped up two decades ago with a few dozen Lowertown artist studios, drawing a few hundred people. Now in its 34th edition, the semiannual crawl will have more than 300 artist studios and galleries in more than 25 buildings from Lowertown to Midway. New exhibition openings include "Modern Myths," a group show from the photography collective A Forest for Trees, whose members include Rhea Pappas, Scott Demeranville, Hilary Lund, Stephen Stephens and Brian Hart. (Opening reception 7-10 p.m. Sat. Echo Arts Gallery, 275 E. 4th St.) Pappas' own solo show, "In the Sky and in the Water," features her stunning underwater photography. (Northern Warehouse, 301 Prince St., Studio 410.) Part Two of newish gallery Air Sweet Air's group diorama show "Just Like Honey" will open with work from Nick Howard, Brian Hart and others. Air Sweet Air curator Cheryl Wilgren Clyne and painter Alex Kuno will also launch the annex space, A Fantôme Galerie, with a new show titled "Slant of Certain Lightness." (Opening receptions 6-9 p.m. Fri. 262 Studios, 262 E. 4th St.) Other sites hosting open galleries and studios include Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative, Northern Warehouse, Tilsner Artists Cooperative, Jax Building and Northwestern Building. (6-10 p.m. Fri., noon-8 p.m. Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Free. More events and locations at www.stpaulartcrawl.org.) JAHNA PELOQUIN
FRIDAY
'Unseen Travels: New John Largaespada Photos'
Never one to let reality stand in the way of a good photo, John Largaespada takes off for the wilderness of Olympic National Park, New York City and parts between. Naturally, the landscapes he snaps (and digitally composes) are a little torqued because that's just the way the world streams through his (un)consciousness. His subjects -- a forest stump growing amid English-garden flowers, a woodland stream burbling through a meadow garden, black birds with Halloween feet, a woman crouching by her "Waterhouse" -- show signs of (ab)normalcy. But don't believe what you read. Believe (or not) what you see. (Free opening reception 5:30-9 p.m. Fri. Through Nov 16. Traffic Zone Gallery, 250 3rd Av. N., Mpls. www.trafficzoneart.com.) MARY ABBE
'The Myth of Utopia'
Fittingly a month before the elections comes "The Myth of Utopia," a show from Rosalux artists John Diebel and Terrence Payne that explores idealism, iconography and ideology. With his intricate cut-paper collages of Bauhausian urban landscapes, Diebel -- who spent a large part of the 1980s living in Berlin -- references the utilitarian ideals of the former Eastern Bloc. The resulting pieces look like Atari-age video-game backdrops, complete with billboards of an unknown dictator gazing across empty streets. Payne, known for his incorporation of text in his graphic, eye-poppingly colorful paintings, utilizes language to sardonic, humorous effect in his latest work, as in a set of misleadingly cheerful-looking pieces titled "I Saw the Future and It Was Stupid" and "You Think You Are Dancing, But Really You Are Just Dying Slowly." For all their cynicism, both artists make up for it in biting humor and exuberant use of color. (Free opening reception 7-10 p.m. Sat. Through Oct. 28. Rosalux Gallery, 1400 NE. Van Buren St., Mpls. www.rosaluxgallery.com) J.P.
