The Water Remembers: Recent Paintings by May Stevens 1990-2004

It would be hard to find a more alluring summer show than these luminous, glittering waterscapes. Painter May Stevens first came to prominence in the sixties with pop-inspired, politically charged works, but the expansive canvases here couldn’t be more different. They hang freely, like tapestries, to envelop viewers; trickling across them are gilded words, often only half-legible. The images of pools, streams, and the open sea, variously glowing and brooding, create vivid environments in which you can almost feel the crunch of gravel underfoot and hear water lapping at the shore. Each work reflects a specific memory of Stevens’s, including the childhood canoe trips with her father on the Charles River and sites around the world that she visited with her late husband. The result is an intimate and emotive exploration of our connections to people and nature. 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-870-3131; www.artsmia.org