Richard Serra Drawings: A Retrospective presents a comprehensive overview of the work of this American artist, featuring immense works that highlight Serra’s treatment of the color black, which he saw as much more of a material than a color, with its own weight and gravity. As you stare up at some of the largest works, created specifically for this exhibit, it feels as though the pitch blackness is looking back at you—alive and engaging with you as you do with it. For more, watch this interview with the artist. The exhibit runs through August 28, 2011.

Night Vision: Photography After Dark displays photographs from the first half of the 20th century as technology evolved and artists were able to explore the world after dark, capturing what they saw on film. Some of the most fascinating works feature the interplay of the elements—rain, snow, ice and fog—with the day-to-day world these artists have captured with their cameras. At no point during the exhibit do you find yourself missing the world of Technicolor; in fact, there are moments when the richness of the black and white evoke more of an emotion than a range of color ever could. The exhibit runs through September 18, 2011.

(post by John Hadeed, photo credits from left to right: Mulberry Street by Sid Grossman; London by Robert Frank; Impressions of Chicago—The Lights of Grant Park by Gordon H. Coster; Solid #13 by Richard Serra; September by Richard Serra; out-of-round X by Richard Serra; Ionian Sea, Santa Cesarea by Hiroshi Sugimoto.)