Polaroids: Mapplethorpe. Nearly 100 Polaroids from the almost 1,500 Robert Mapplethorpe shot at the beginning of his career trace the artist’s development toward the provocation of his mature work. Through Sunday at Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; 847-491-4000.
Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth. The unsettling Norwegian painter and printmaker is brilliantly explored in relation to works by major and minor contemporaries. Through April 26 at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave. Dated tickets required; 312-930-4040, ticketmaster.com
Andy Paczos paintings. A stark Chicago landscape caught between past and future, after demolition and before construction. Through May 24 at Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave.; 773-324-5520.
Sigmar Polke Lens Paintings. The German “visual revolutionary,” a star of the go-go ’80s, presents 34 recent works, vivid, complexly layered and playful. Through April 17 at the Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St.; 312-787-3997.
The Eternal Light of Egypt: The Photography of Sarite Sanders. A selection from more than 30 years of black-and-white infrared photographs leaves an incandescent record of a pilgrimage on the Nile. Through May 10 at Loyola University Museum of Art, 820 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-915-7600.
Ungray: Color, Light and Other Balms: A multimedia exhibition by which Scott Wolniak either embraces New Age healing or sends it up. Through Sunday at Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.; 312-346-2278.
Altogether Mutable: The Work of Mary Lou Zelazny: A 30-year retrospective of collage-paintings and paintings from a Chicago artist with allegiances to surreal fantasy and the figure. Through April 12 at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave.; 773-324-5520.
Homeland: Photographs by Nina Berman. The farcical and horrific at once, in color images taken across the United States since 9/11. Through May 22 at Gage Gallery of Roosevelt University, 18 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-341-6458.
Gregory Coates Paintings and Installations. Works of unusual materials — bicycle inner tubes, feathers — that operate in a zone between painting and sculpture. Through Friday at G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, 110 N. Peoria St.; 312-563-9240.
Warrington Colescott watercolors, etchings: A veteran satirist looks at, among other things, American history and Mardi Gras. Through April 11 at Perimeter Gallery, 210 W. Superior St.; 312-266-9473.
More Top Picks Screen Houses
Richard Koppe paintings, drawings. Works from the 1940s and 1950s by a quintessential midcentury modern artist. Through Friday at Richard Norton Gallery, 612 Merchandise Mart Plaza; 312-644-8855.
Sarah Krepp paintings, drawings. Fantastically dense and thrilling works that propose an alternative language made from bits of communicative systems. Through April 14 at Roy Boyd Gallery, 739 N. Wells St.; 312-642-1606.
Achim Lippoth photographs: Staged color images recalling German children of the ’50s. Through May 9 at Catherine Edelman Gallery, 300 W. Superior St.; 312-266-2350.
Marvin E. Newman and Yasuhiro Ishimoto: Mini-retrospectives for photographer-friends who met at Chicago’s Institute of Design more than 60 years ago. Through April 25 at Stephen Daiter Gallery, 311 W. Superior St.; 312-787-3350.
Tetsuya Noda prints: Scenes from everyday life delicately set down in a complex woodcut-and-silk-screen process. Through April 11 at Andrew Bae Gallery, 300 W. Superior St.; 312-335-8601.
Gallery openings — city
Corbett vs. Dempsey: Rebecca Shore — A E i O U (and sometimes why), new paintings, Hal Rammel drawings. Through May 8; opening reception 5-9 p.m. Friday at 1120 N. Ashland Ave.; 773-278-1664.
Devening: Christopher Michlig collage and sculptures. Through May 12; opening reception 4-7 p.m. Sunday at 3039 W. Carroll Ave., 3rd fl.; 312-420-4720.
Finestra Art Space: Patricia Ann McNair and Philip Hartigan mixed media. Through April 30; opening reception 5-9 p.m. April 10 at 410 S. Michigan Ave., ste. 516; 847-977-0526.
Gray: Marc Swanson new work. Through May 23; opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday at 875 N. Michigan Ave., ste. 2503; 312-642-8877 .
Kasia Kay: Sandra Bermudez installation, Daniel Bruttig paintings and objects. Through May 9; opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday at 1044 W. Fulton Market; 312-492-8828.
Morpho: Fourth Annual Juried Photography Exhibit, a group show. Through May 3; opening reception 6-10 p.m. Friday at 5216 N. Damen Ave.; 773-878-4255.
Packer Schopf: Brian Dettmer mixed media, Betsy Stirratt new paintings. Through May 9; opening reception 5-8 p.m. Friday at 942 W. Lake St.; 312-226-8984.
Taller Mestizarte: Manuel Rodriguez Muro photographs. Through April 26; opening reception 6-8 p.m. Thursday at 1440 W. 18th St.; 773-988-7726.
ThreeWalls: Judith Brotman installation. Through May 8; opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday at 119 N. Peoria St., #2D; 312-432-3972.
Warren: Nicole Gordon paintings and drawings. Through May 9; opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday at 1052 W. Fulton Market; 312-432-9500.
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Pick of the week
Paul Chan: My laws are my whores. A provocative juxtaposition of ideas and objects that brings together an 18th Century French libertine with 21st Century law in the United States. One of the more difficult exhibitions in town. Its strongest component is a series of fonts that can be downloaded from the artist’s Web site (nationalphilistine.com); drawings and video pieces succeed only fitfully. Through April 12 at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.; 773-702-8670.
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