'Sand' at Parrish, Buckminster Fuller at Whitney

BY ARIELLA BUDICK | Special to Newsday

May 25, 2008

The Guggenheim retrospective on sculptor Louise Bourgeois features 150 of her works. (Handout)

Sand: Memory, Meaning and Metaphor (June 29-Sept. 14 at Parrish Art Museum, Southampton). We play in it, loll on it, build castles out of it, and wash it out of our hair, but what, exactly, does sand mean? Its physical and metaphysical significance is explored in this show at the Parrish that gathers together an extensive and extremely diverse bunch of artistic all-stars, from the 19th century masters James Abbott McNeil Whistler and Winslow Homer to such recent virtuosos as Milton Avery, Jasper Johns and Alex Katz. parrishart.org, 631-283-2118

J.M.W. Turner (July 1-Sept. 21, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan). This much anticipated blockbuster, including more than $1 billion worth of canvas, follows the visionary sweep of the British painter's trajectory from historical epics, through seascapes and canvases where paint seems to swirl for its own sake. With some 70 pictures on loan from Tate Britain, and another 70 from other international collections, this promises to be a retrospective filled with fireworks. metmuseum .org, 212-535-7710

Inspired by Light: Landscapes by East End Masters (June 21-July 27, Guild Hall, East Hampton). Three reigning queens of the Long Island landscape school will be ruling over this exhibit at Guild Hall in East Hampton. Jane Wilson's mesmerizing wide-open spaces take off from the low horizon of her Iowa childhood and merge with the water-dappled light of Water Mill. Jane Freilicher studies the fertile farmland - lately subject to development - rolling down to Mecox Bay from the cool vantage of her Water Mill Studio. And April Gornick's moody, moonlit oceans and bays invoke powerful ancestors from the American luminists to the German romantic Caspar David Friedrich. guildhall.org, 631-324-0806

Louise Bourgeois (June 27-Sept. 28, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan). Visitors to the Guggenheim this summer will be greeted by two colossal bronze spiders unfurling their elegant legs in the museum's rotunda. The monumental arachnids have sprung from the studio of Louise Bourgeois, the 96-year-old sculptor whose majestic retrospective will stalk the Guggenheim's spiral. With 150 works including early paintings, works on paper and sculpture in multiple media, the show will pay homage to the career of this unique yet exceedingly influential woman. guggenheim.org, 212-423-3500

Buckminster Fuller: Starting With the Universe (June 26-Sept. 21, Whitney Museum of American Art, Manhattan). Buckminster Fuller is one of the 20th century's mavericks, a man who struggled to erase what he saw as the arbitrary boundary between science and art. Famed for inventing the geodesic dome, he also immersed himself in math, literature, molecular biology and environmental science, chiefly to answer the question: "Does humanity have a chance to survive lastingly and successfully on planet Earth, and if so, how?" The Whitney's show includes the sole extant Dymaxion car; models of the Wichita House; the Tetrascroll portfolio as well as models, sketches, notebooks and other artifacts. whitney.org, 800-944-8639JUNE 3. Framing a Century: Master

Photographers, 1840-1940. Examining photography's first 100 years through the work of Gustave Le Gray, Roger Fenton, Carleton Watkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar, Edouard Baldus, Charles Marville, Eugene Atget, Walker Evans, May Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Brassai. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, Manhattan. Through Sept. 1. metmuseum.org, 212-535-7710

And please keep in mind:

JUNE 7. Site Specifics 2008. Installations and mixed-media work created for the Carriage House. Islip Art Museum, 50 Irish Lane, East Islip. Through July 27. islipartmuseum.org, 631-224-5402

JUNE 13. Focus: Picasso Sculpture. Installation examining the artist's career as a maker of three-dimensional objects (includes cast bronzes, plasters and assemblages made of diverse materials). The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., Manhattan. Through Nov. 8. moma.org, 212-708-9400

JUNE 18. A Passion for Pixels. Group show exploring the many manifestations of digital art, reception 1-4 p.m. July 27. Islip Art Museum. Through Sept. 7.

JUNE 23. Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election. Exploring New York's role in American politics from the inauguration of George Washington to the present. Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd Street, Manhattan. Through Nov. 4. mcny.org, 212-534-1672

JUNE 25. Conversations in Paint. Exploring the various ways in which artists use paint to evoke a response from the viewer, reception 3-5 p.m. June 29. Art League of Long Island, 107 E. Deer Park Rd., Dix Hills. Through July 27. artleagueli.org, 631-462-5400

JUNE 28. Michal Rovner: Video, Sculpture, Installation. Video installations projecting teeming masses of little anonymous figures onto the walls of a room or large rocks. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Ave., Huntington. Through Sept. 28. heckscher.org, 631-351-3250

JUNE 29. Dali: Painting and Film. More than 100 works by Salvador Dali exploring the central role of cinema in his work; includes collaborations with Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock and the Marx Brothers. Museum of Modern Art. Through Sept. 15.

JULY 11. Arthamptons. Art fair including more than 50 galleries and featuring paintings, sculptures, watercolors, prints and photographs. Bridgehampton Historical Society, 2368 Montauk Hwy., Bridgehampton. Through July 13. arthamptons.com, 631-283-5505

JULY 26. The Art Students League of New York: Highlights from the Permanent Collection. Approximately 75 paintings, works on paper and sculptures from the permanent collection of one of America's oldest art schools, all reflecting art movements of the past 125 years. Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, 1200 Rte. 25A, Stony Brook Through Sept. 21. longislandmuseum.org, 631-751-0066

AUG. 9. Larry Rivers: Major Early Works. Major works from key museums. Guild Hall, 158 Main St., East Hampton. Through Oct. 19. guildhall.org, 631-324-0806