SATURDAY

'The Meds I'm On'

Health and happiness are inevitably linked, and Americans like to think they have a lock on both. And yet, more than half of us take prescription drugs and 10 percent take five or more prescription drugs regularly. These disturbing factoids and some casual conversation prompted Instinct Art Gallery to launch a conversation and exhibition about our medicated culture. Ten painters, sculptors, photographers and other artists will present often personal stories of addiction and recovery, money and medication, migraines, aging, medical history and more. Eddie Estrin and Mike Croswell will improvise music to a soundtrack inspired by a CT scan of the brain. Medical professionals will join the artists for a free panel discussion at 6:30 p.m. April 23. Presenters include Sammy thrashLife, John Ilg, Rachel Jablo, Mayumi Amada, Dougie Padilla, Caitlin Karolczak, Inna Valin and Nicole Medearis. (Free opening reception 6-8 p.m. Sat. Noon-4 p.m. Tue., noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends May 28. Instinct Art Gallery, 940 Nicollet Mall, Mpls. 612-240-2317 or www.instinctmpls.com.) Mary Abbe

'United by Pixels'

Instagram photography gets a bad rap from purists for not being "real" photography. But thanks to increasingly sophisticated gear — the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus both boast an eight-megapixel camera, lens focusing technology and advanced optical image stabilization — the camera phone is becoming a legitimate way to take a great photo. In that spirit comes the crowdsourced Instagram art show "United by Pixels." Interested parties need simply to include the hashtag #UBPMN15 in the description of their Instagram photos leading up to (and during) the event. All photos with that hashtag will be printed and displayed at the show. The event also includes a photo booth, live music, a raffle with prizes and a cash bar. (7 p.m.-1 a.m. Sat. $5. Grain Belt Bottling House, Studio 211, 79 13th Av. NE., Mpls. www.unitedbypixels.com.) Jahna Peloquin

CONTINUING

'Someone Else's Story'

Four Minnesota-based artists float from realism to abstraction in telling "Someone Else's Story," as this show is enigmatically titled. Teo Nguyen limns the brooding poetry of Minnesota landscapes in five paintings that are all gray skies and stubbled fields. With intricately cut white paper, Sonja Peterson creates a lacy tablecloth-sized tableau in which fish swim through tangles of seaweed that blossom into a leafy aviary aflutter with exotic birds. Duluth-based Anne Labovitz pays homage to poet Edna St. Vincent Millay by layering graffiti scribbles of her poems into monochrome canvases whose thick translucent surfaces glow like backlit ice. Tetsuya Yamada has produced elegantly glazed wall panels whose silvery iridescent surfaces are pocked with expressive fingerprints. (11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through April 26. Free. Burnet Gallery at Le Méridien Chambers, 901 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. 612-767-6824 or www. burnetgallery.com.) M.A.