Image from "Thriller," a video by young Finnish artist Salla Tykkä. "Thriller," inspired by Michael Jackson's music video, focuses on issues of gender and states of mind connected to vulnerability and power. Another video as well as still photographs are on view at the Johnson Museum through March 30. Tykkä will lecture at the museum Jan. 30 at 5:15 p.m. Photos courtesy of the Johnson Museum

Art museum's opening reception celebrates new exhibitions, Jan. 31

Dorothea Lange's "Portrait of a slave with a long memory" is one of the images on view in the exhibition "On the Face of It: Portrait Photography," on view at the Johnson Museum through March 23.

A reception celebrating the new exhibitions on view at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art will be held Friday, Jan. 31, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The reception, which is free and open to the public, features food and a wine bar, live music and five new and diverse exhibitions.

"There is something for everyone on view now," said Frank Robinson, the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the museum. "From ancient art to American drawings to the work of one of the hottest young video artists in the world, these exhibitions offer beauty in many forms and many media. We all will find something to challenge and excite us. Please come."

The exhibitions include:

• "Mark Lombardi: Global Networks": The exhibition by this conceptual artist shows 24 delicate drawings depicting global interconnections underlying financial scandals of recent years.

• "Salla Tykkä: Videos and Photographs": This is the first U.S. exhibition of work by this young Finnish artist, whose work was a hit at the 2001 Venice Biennale.

• "Ancient Art and Its Afterlife": Curated by Professors Andrew Ramage and Nancy Ramage, this exhibition takes Greek and Roman objects from Cornell and from private collections and shows how later eras adapted ancient motifs and ideas in prints and ceramics.

• "On the Face of It: Portrait Photography": This exhibition reflects on the use of the camera to take portraits, from the 1850s to 2001, and shows changing ideas of what portraiture is about.

• "American Drawings of the 20th Century": A survey of drawings, among them some recent acquisitions to the museum's collections, by American artists, including works by John Marin, Edward Hopper, Milton Avery, Jim Dine, Terry Winters and Elizabeth Murray.

Extra parking for the Jan. 31 event is available in Cornell's "A" lot, with a free shuttle bus to the museum. For more information, call 255-6464.