"Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life": Designers get stereotyped as unexciting pragmatists, but this exhibition of fashion, architecture and product design from around the world shows that sly social commentary can be slipped into ordinary objects. Works in the 45-piece show range from Constantin and Laurene Leon Boym's Buildings of Disaster, metal miniatures of pop tragedy sites that separate the sentimentality from collectibles, to Marijn van der Poll's do hit, a steel cube raging DIYers can beat into a chair with an accompanying sledgehammer. (Reviewed March 3.) Through April 24. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7380 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale. 480-994-ARTS (2787). -- L.P.
Tato Caraveo at The Lost Leaf: Some guys have all the luck. Besides serving as the bassist for the jazz trio Sonorous, turns out Adaupto "Tato" Caraveo is a talented surrealist painter to boot. His stunning 15-piece untitled oeuvre features touches of the inanity of Salvador Dali (an admitted influence) and matches the Spaniard's quirk of recurring motifs, but in Tato's case it's persistent memories of jazz and bizarre beings. The former factors into otherworldly depictions of eccentric musicians saturated in primary colors. In one vivid work, a piano player performs in a cerulean-drenched dream, so stirred by the music that the blur of his movement gives him a multifaceted appearance; a portrait of Christ smokes a cigarette in the background. The paintings are also populated by comically disproportionate figures, like a misshapen Abraham Lincoln riding a tricycle, as well as oddly anorexic elephants and sheep. Through March 31. The Lost Leaf, 1510 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, 602-574-3957. -- B.L.
"Will Wilson: Auto Immune Response" at the Heard Museum: How do you survive in a postapocalyptic world? According to Will Wilson, the key to survival lies in an understanding of the past. The Navajo photographer explores this, as well as the concepts of Native American identity and connection to the land, through a series of powerful, in-your-face, mixed-media and photo-based installations. Wilson draws from his own past (the alienation felt as a child in exile at Phoenix Indian School) and that of his people to produce moving images that challenge established stereotypes of Native American art and the people who create it. Most poignant is a life-size steel hogan -- a refashioning of the traditional dwelling and its contents as a result of exposure to Anglo society and technology. "Auto Immune Response" is part of the museum's series "Artspeak: New Voices in Contemporary Art." Through September. Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, 602-252-8848. -- C.C.
Sculpture in the Streets: The streets of downtown Mesa are filled with teens playing soccer, dogs playing Frisbee, prancing horses, children gardening and chickens perched on pigs. It sounds very Main Street, Disneyland -- but instead it's Mesa's Main Street, between Country Club Drive and Mesa Drive, that will be inundated with a display of more than 70 sculptures 'til the snowbirds fly away. The sculpture project features work from artists across the country and also includes two privately owned pieces, as well as 22 pieces from the city's permanent collection. A number of sculptures are also located inside 12 West Gallery, 12 W. Main St.; Mesa Art 'N Framing Gallery, 48 W. Main St.; and the Imbeau Gallery, 119 W. Main St. Through April 15. -- A.Y.
"Arab Americans in Arizona" at Mesa Southwest Museum: This exhibition explores the migration of Arabic-speaking people to Arizona since the latter part of the 19th century, with a focus on examining the reasons that different nationalities from the Middle East chose to come to Arizona. Some were seeking opportunity and some were escaping asperity in their native lands; this is reflected in the diversity of the various Arab-American communities in central Arizona. The exhibition details the differences in each community, including religious beliefs, social customs, dress, family structure and language, and how those traditions have been assimilated into American culture. In addition to costumes, musical instruments, jewelry, calligraphy and historical items, the exhibition also shows the economic and cultural contributions the groups have made here. Through April. Mesa Southwest Museum, 53 N. Macdonald, Mesa, 480-644-2230. -- A.Y.
