San Diego Reader

• Museum | Balboa Park

San Diego Museum of Art

• 1450 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 | Directions
• 619-232-7931 | Website

Alternative Accounts: Plains Indian Ledger Art from the 19th Century to Now. Made with techniques once used to paint on buffalo skins, these works on ledger paper reveal the prevailing artistic traditions of these people. Reflected in these works is the changing reality of Native American life, from memories of ceremonial grandeur to the effects of mass-relocation and reservation living. On view through May 28.

Pacific Horizons: Melanesian Art from the Valerie Franklin Collection. Ongoing exhibition explores the artistic achievements of Melanesia, where art connects people with land, nature spirits, ancestors and each other to create strong and vibrant communities. On view through January 1, 2015.

Piranesi, Rome, and the Arts of Design Giambattista Piranesi (1720-1778) was a printmaker, architect, antiquarian, art dealer, theorist, and designer. Piranesi, Rome, and the Arts of Design sets out to show the range of the artist’s genius in a 21st-century approach to his creative endeavors. More than 300 original prints have been selected from the collection of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy. These prints are combined with modern-day interpretations in new technologies such as video, photography, and digital modeling. The exhibition enables Piranesi’s two-dimensional renderings of a monumental vase, a candelabrum, tripods, a teapot, an altar, and a fireplace to assume their rightful three-dimensional forms. These never-before-seen and never-before-crafted objects take center stage in the exhibition and attest to the creative intellect of Piranesi’s designs. In addition, the exhibition brings to life Piranesi’s most famous works, the Carceri (Prisons), in the form of a virtual reality 3-D installation. The legendary Caffè degli Inglesi is represented as a full scale evocation, and visitors may browse through Piranesi’s sketchbooks using a touchscreen monitor. Having previously appeared at the Fondazione Cini in Venice and at the Caixa Forum in Madrid and Barcelona, the show makes its only U.S. stop at The San Diego Museum of Art.. Through July 7, 2013.