This Week in Art Openings: Zhang Huan, Daido Moriyama and DEVO

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Zhang Huan, Giant No. 3

Zhang Huan, “Blessings”

Chinese artist Zhang Huan, best known for his controversial -- oft labeled masochistic -- performance pieces, presents “Blessings,” a multimedia exhibit at PaceWildenstein marked by two sizeable centerpiece installations. At the 22nd Street gallery, find a structure of compacted ash from Chinese Buddhist temples topped by an image on its back of people -- thought to be migrant workers -- in a field. Perch on scaffolding to view the piece from above, and during the first three weeks of the exhibition, watch as a studio assistant suspended from a dangling chair carefully fills the paintings with ash. Find more Buddhist ash paintings, with Chinese military themes and human skulls, lining the gallery walls. At Pace’s 25th Street location, the main gallery features a sizeable sculpture of a pregnant woman constructed with animal hides, and in the side gallery, check out new works from his “Memory Door” series featuring photographs imposed on antique doors collected in China.

PaceWildenstein, 534 W. 25th St. and 545 W. 22nd St., (212) 421-3292. Opening reception May 8, 6–8 p.m. Through July 25.

Daido Moriyama, “The 80s, Vintage Prints”

Moriyama, one of Japan’s most celebrated photographers, is known for snapping everyday subjects with a lightning-fast speed that he has compared to a machine gun going off. This exhibit -- his first of vintage prints in New York -- displays more than 80 black-and-whites taken in the ‘80s. These prints have immediacy to them (he rarely even uses the viewfinder) and the spirit of the Japanese wabi-sabi -- beauty in imperfection.

Steven Kasher Gallery, 521 W. 23rd St., (212) 966-3978. Opening reception May 8, 6-8 p.m. Through June 7.

“The Super Thing: NYC goes DEVO”

DEVO -- more a force than a band, really. Not just synth heroes, but social commentators, style icons (who could forget those yellow chemical protection suits from their “Q: Are We Not Men?” period and Saturday Night Live?) and artists, this DEVO-inspired interactive exhibition features 20 works by DEVO’s prolific Mark Mothersbaugh. These “Postcard Diaries” prints are taken from Mothersbaugh’s 30-year-long-and-running collection of boldly illustrated postcards he makes daily (see mutatovisual.com/). Other work, influenced by the satire, humor and energy of DEVO, includes video games, drawings, robotic dolls and music videos. The opening party, a “Super Thing Circus,” speaks for itself, and guests are encouraged to dress DEVO-style.

3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 715-4961. Opening reception May 10, 8-12 a.m. Through June 1.