Culture Calendar: What to Do This Week

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The meticulous and ultra-observant artist’s eye that Stanley Kubrick brought to devising scenes onscreen can easily be traced to his beginnings as a photographer: in 1945, at just 17, he sold his first photograph to Look Magazine. As a young man, Kubrick was fascinated by New York City, where he lived, focusing his lens on the streets, sports events, nightclubs and their inhabitants in his earliest professional assignments. The Museum of the City of New York gives the photographer his due, showcasing more than 120 photographs of his from the museum’s extensive Look archive. For any Kubrick fan, it’s a must-see peek into the formative years of one of film’s great auteurs. 1220 Fifth Ave.; Mcny.org.

May 11-July 22

It’s been 200 years since, at age 19, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Since its publication in 1818, the Gothic novel has remained remarkably relevant to artists, writers, scientists, and more, driving the creation of myriad works asking questions inspired by the creation and plight of Shelley’s creature. At this museum exhibit, visitors will see a range of art, literary documents, models and pop culture memorabilia referencing the novel–inviting them to read (or re-read) the book and reconsider their own notions of beauty, horror, and humanity. University of Kentucky Art Museum, 405 Rose St.; finearts.uky.edu.

May 12-Sept. 30

The German multimedia artist Franz Erhard Walther brought to life the radicalism of the 1960s and 1970s in his work, embracing both the role of information and communication in creating an aesthetic and aiming towards a dematerialization of art itself, emphasizing not only the artwork but the public and the gallery space in his approach. The Museo Jumex’s new Walther retrospective presents a significant portion of his major pieces of work, showcasing his core interests in space, scale, process, language, and the spectator’s own active role. At its center: his seminal First Work Set, considered one of the most radical artworks to come out of the ‘60s, and the base from which Walther’s revolutionary notions of sculpture would spring. Miguel de Cervantes, Saavedra 303, Colonia Granada; fundacionjumex.org.

May 19-Oct. 28

The remarkable surrealist painter Rene Magritte may be best known for the mysterious bowler-hatted men and paradoxical phrases he painted throughout his life. The latter half of his career, though, has been less deeply explored–a vital time when, in the midst of World War II and beyond, he questioned his convictions as an artist and utterly transformed his style. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition is unprecedented in its focus on this portion of Magritte’s career, showcasing more than 20 artworks on view in a U.S. museum for the first time. Among the 70 paintings and gouaches displayed, viewers will see Magritte’s “sunlit surrealism” and Vache painting periods when he emulated the garish color of cartoons and hazy, sweet atmospheres of Impressionism.  151 Third St.; sfmoma.org.

Through May 20

At a moment when it can feel like every new musical is based on a movie or of the jukebox variety, it’s inspiring to see Arena Stage’s Power Plays initiative, which is in the midst of commissioning 25 new plays and musicals from 25 writers over the course of 10 years. The latest piece to come out of it, Snow Child, is a musical based on Eowyn Ivey’s Pulitzer-nominated novel, about a couple rebuilding their lives in the Alaskan wilderness who meet the magical titular creature. Bob Banghart and Georgia Stitt’s score blends Alaskan folk-band tradition with contemporary musical theater technique, and the show itself is in especially apt hands: director Molly Smith lived in Alaska for over 25 years, founding the Perseverance Theater there during that time. The show ends its run in D.C. this week, then travels to Anchorage May 25-27 and Juneau June 9-10.  1101 Sixth St.; Arenastage.org.