Twin Cities' 5 must-see art shows this weekend

OPENING

Emmett Ramstad: Laying in Wait

Hair & Nails Gallery (2222 ½ E 35th St., Mpls)

Opening Friday, April 6 from 6-10 p.m.

Cost: Free.

Open hours: Thu-Fri 3 – 6; Sat-Sun 1 – 6pm or by appointment

In this smartphone and media-saturated environment we live in, it seems like there's no time or space for non-productivity. What does it mean to wait anymore? That's what Emmett Ramstad explores in this full-on installation/gallery takeover, where he examines times of waiting: Your mouth open at the dentist, waiting; sitting on the toilet while also checking email, waiting; stopped at a light and texting, but also waiting. he upstairs space is transformed into a waiting room, which includes a ceiling, sunrise calendar and a room of tissue boxes. But wait: Why aren't you waiting for nothing to happen? Exhibition runs through May 11.

Vanishing Ice

Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Road, Mpls. 612-625-9494 or wam.umn.edu

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wed.

Cost: Free.

It's April, but apparently the ice isn't going anywhere – yet! That's just here in Minneapolis. Not in this show at the Weisman Gallery, which speaks to environmental concerns and so much more. Old photography methods dazzle in "Crossing a Glacier Near Monte Cristo" (1902), a black-and-white stereograph by Darius and Tabitha Kinsey, offering viewers a look at this natural landscape. It is cleverly juxtaposed with Spencer Tunick's very contemporary photograph "Aletsch Glacier #4" (2007), in which he had hundreds of volunteers lie down nude on a glacier in Switzerland, suggesting the ways that the Earth without glaciers is as naked as a nude human freezing their literal butt off on the edge of a glacier. Go see it before these frozen times end. Ends May 13.

Matryoshka: Nesting Doll

Russian Museum of Art (5500 Stevens Ave. S, Mpls)

Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon. - Fri.; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sat.; 1 – 5 p.m. Sunday

Cost: Free for kids (0-13); $5 for kids (14+) & Students with ID; $10 adults; $8 seniors 65+

Have you ever wondered about the origins of the epic matryoshka, those cute little nesting dolls associated with a sort of bucolic Russian peasant woman? Carved by Vasily Zvyozdochkin and designed by Sergey Malyutin in 1890, the first set is of dolls ever portrays eight Russian peasant women. The two artisans were inspired by a doll from Honshu, Japan's main island, which may have portrayed an Buddhist monk or another type of round doll. The doll form quickly became a hit during the pre-revolutionary years, and then became a regulated industry during the Soviet period. In the post-Soviet period, the matroyshka has gotten way more creative. This exhibition offers more than 100 sets of dolls from the 20th century, each with their own spunk. A Fiddler on the Roof set of matryoshka is like a journey through the play itself. A set of matroyshka of Soviet leaders pokes fun at them merely through the roundness of the dolls themselves. There are also quiet a few regional dolls, which look more like the original matryoshka. Exhibition closes Sept 18.

McKnight Visual Artist Discussion Series: Jamillah James in conversation with Tia-Simone Gardner and Jay Heikes

Pillsbury Auditorium at the Minneapolis Institute of Art ( 2400 Third Ave S, Mpls)

Friday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Cost: Free. Reserve tickets here.

Curator Jamillah James from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles speaks this evening in converastion with McKnight Visual Art Fellows Tia-Simone Gardner, wose work engages Black feminism, and Jay Heikes, whose work frequently crosses into alchemy. Tickets are required for this event. Free, and limit two person.

A Different Kind of Intimacy: Queer and Radical Performance at the Walker, 1990-95

Walker Art Center (725 Vineland Pl, Mpls.)

Hours: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tues., Wed., Sun.; 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thurs.; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fri., Sat.; closed Mondays

Cost: $15 adults; $13 seniors (62+); $7.50 active military; $10 students; free for ages 0–18