Posted on: Friday, May 11, 2001

Critics' Choice

• Opening of Luce Pavilion (Honolulu Academy of Arts, 532-8700) — Grand-opening celebrations include a free open house on Sunday (noon-5 p.m.), when "Na Maka Hou: New Visions" opens. This broad overview of work by contemporary Native Hawaiian artists is not to be missed. Also opening is a splendid display of Ni'ihau shell lei, an exhibition of grand ceramic sculptures by Jun Kaneko (several are installed in front of the academy), as well as the new installation of the academy's collection of 19th- and 20th-century Hawai'i art.

• Drawing Is Another Kind of Language (The Contemporary Museum, through June 10, 526-1322) — This exhibition, drawn from a private New York collection, presents a broad range of works on paper from the past half-century, the earliest a Barnett Newman dating from 1946. The artists are mostly Americans and mostly minimalists or those who explore related trends. Most striking about the exhibition overall is the amount of freedom evident in what would seem a constraining aesthetic. Also noteworthy is the intermingling of art-world notables like Jasper Johns and Ellsworth Kelly with less well-known, though no less interesting, artists.

• Bamboo in Japanese Culture (East-West Center Gallery, through June 29, 944-7177) — Bamboo in all its guises is on display, including objects made of bamboo and those decorated with bamboo motifs. Some extraordinary textiles are exhibited, but the baskets steal the show.