Featured Review: Maturity and Its Muse The only two traits shared by the artists in this wildly eclectic show of sculpture, painting, drawing, photography and then some is that they're based in St. Louis and on the other side of age 70. And they wear these aspects well. As the first exhibition by the new, locally based nonprofit of the same name (which aims to support positive and productive aging through creativity in the arts), M and Its M has managed to gather a deeply accomplished group of individuals whose biographies and personal accomplishments alone could have provided substance for an exhibition. But the art does not fail to deliver, ranging from quilts made of neckties to drawings of roaring orangutans to beak-shaped ceramic pitchers to colorful pop collages to gold chain-mail chokers. Confident diversity is apparently at the heart of growing old gracefully — a message that addresses art's durability or its importance in keeping us young. Through February 5 at the Sheldon Art Galleries, 3648 Washington Boulevard; 314-533-9900 or www.sheldonconcerthall.org. Hours: noon-8 p.m. Tue., noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.
Pausing for Reflection: A Reflection on Pausing Pairing the analog black-and-white work of local photographers Leo Collazo and Ken Konchel, curator Robin Hirsch draws out their common eye for ethereal nuance of the type that's otherwise lost amid the frenzied gloss of the day-to-day. Konchel, who focuses exclusively on large-scale contemporary structures by experimental practitioners like Bernard Tschumi, Zaha Hadid and James Carpenter, composes his shots to heighten buildings' abstract and formal aspects, truncating the form in order to home in on latticelike façades, concentric ripples, twisted archways. Complementing the grand steel construction of these farther-flung projects, Collazo focuses on local buildings as they're reflected in street puddles. Irregularly shaped, the reflective surfaces serve as incidental frames for St. Louis' rectilinear and earth-wrought buildings, emphasizing the raw textures of stacked brick and terra cotta. In cataloging fine spatial details and the subtle aftermath of rain showers, the dual projects train us to consider more closely what's around us. Through February 6 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Boulevard; 314-863-5811 or www.art-stl.com. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.