Capsule Art Reviews: "Apertura-Colombia," "Craft in America — Expanding Traditions," "Dario Robleto: Oh, Those Mirrors With Memory (Actions 1996-1997)," "How Artists Draw," "Katy Heinlein," "Miwa Yanagi — Deutsche Bank Collection"

"Apertura-Colombia" This survey of Colombian photography and video at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art far outshined the official FotoFest exhibitions of contemporary Chinese photography. The Station is at its best when it deals with art and politics, and this show is no exception. Angel Rojas shows Caquetá, his video of a young man with no hands trying to wash the camouflage paint from his face, and Mirando la Flor, two photos taken ten years apart of a man with a drug addiction, with a soundless video of the man talking about his life. Jesús Abad Colorado's work includes images of refugees, bombed-out towns, indigenous people blocking the Pan American Highway in protest and people carrying a banner that reads "Territorio de Paz" through a ruined village. Juan Manuel Echavarría creates sculptures from mangled, broken and charred mannequin parts, then photographs them and digitally inserts them into images of government plazas or luxury high-rise apartment buildings. Andres Sierra presents the photographic series Karma Sutra, shocking but oddly poignant portraits of amputees having sex. And Libia Posada's series RE-TRATOS (Portraits) presents gold-framed portraits of abused women with cuts and bruises forensically reconstructed on their faces. The artists of "Apertura" are taking their country — and ours — to task. Through May 18. 1502 Alabama, 713-529-6900. — KK

"Craft in America — Expanding Traditions" With a lush catalog introduced by Jimmy Carter, an extensive Web site and an accompanying three-part PBS series, "Craft in America — Expanding Traditions" has "blockbuster" written all over it. Organized by Craft in America, Inc., the exhibition seeks to explore the "many cultures and movements that have contributed to the development and refinement of American craft during the last two centuries." It's a pretty sweeping agenda that may be better addressed in the video series than the exhibition, which, in spite of some compelling objects, feels kinda piecemeal. But that said, it's definitely worth a trip to check out everything from a shaker-influenced George Nakashima bench, to a stunning Native American beaded vest, to quirky face jugs. Through May 4. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main, 713-529-4848. — KK

"Dario Robleto: Oh, Those Mirrors With Memory (Actions 1996-1997)" San Antonio-based Robleto is known primarily for his intricate sculptures, which take the forms of relics and convey narratives of war, but Inman Gallery is presenting a series of early text-based works that challenge the definition of art space. The main room contains one actual object — there's a fixture in the center displaying a small iron pyrite spool threaded with what is described as "Patsy Cline's 'I Fall to Pieces' 45-rpm vinyl record slowly sliced along outer rim until reaching center." On the walls are 14 little groupings of vinyl text, each describing a type of performance art "action" that Robleto conceived a little over a decade ago. An example is "Be Mad, Be Rash, Smoke and Explode, Resist or Move On," in which Robleto claims he drove around in his car blaring the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" on an animals-only frequency in an attempt to incite revolution among the local beasts. Much of the words bear a poetic kindness that verges on the silly. It's obvious Robleto didn't actually perform these, like the one in which he postpones the end of the world by simply whiting out every reference to it, but the show inflicts a warm charm you might not expect from its stark appearance. Through May 24. 3901 Main, 713-526-7803. — TS