Picture Day in the Garden is an upcoming exhibition of paintings by California artist Erik Mark Sandberg. Portraits of the Hairy Children make up a body of work that is at once unsettling and compelling. Viewers must look past, or through, the layer of hair that prevents direct access to the children's features. In doing so, they must fight the immediate revulsion that comes when exposed to an unfamiliar notion of beauty or appearance. A reaction to the influence of media and marketing on today's children, Sandberg's series is an eye-opener.

Artist: Erik Mark Sandberg
+ johanssen-gallery.com

Recent work by Austrian artist Martin C. Herbst is described as a "procession" of pieces on polished stainless steel and aluminium. Influenced by the Renaissance notion of accurately portraying the human form in physical space after an intellectual approach that involved much careful study, Herbst takes a twenty-first century stab at playfulness and distortion by using concave, convex and mirrored surfaces. His spherical faces are the pieces that hold the most fascination for us, resting on the gallery floor like a band of insulted marbles.

Artist: Martin C. Herbst
+ mikeweissgallery.com

Corey Helford Gallery presents Illuminate next week, a quick show featuring new work from Mia, Robert Bellm and Angelique Houtkamp. Mia, whose work is shown above, creates "personality" portraits where all one's inner workings float to the surface. Bellm's recent work combines birds, houses and colour into narratives that are in contrast with the pin-up power of work by Angelique Houtkamp, who is also an Amsterdam tattoo artist. The compositions by all three artists will be in colourful harmony for five days only.

Artist: Mia, Robert Bellm and Angelique Houtkamp
+ coreyhelfordgallery.com

When the Corey Helford Gallery said, "Send in the clowns," an incredible roster of contemporary artists responded with updated takes on classic clown paintings. Not only will the group show feature some of the best contemporary artists in the United States, but a line-up of top new artists from London will also be joining the parade. The result is a cast of clowns in a slew of situations beyond the big top. Above is Chicago by Alex Pardee.

Artists: various
+ coreyhelfordgallery.com

Seitaro Kuroda is an artist who has gone to the dogs. One of Japan's most famous artists, Kuroda feels that dogs have secret lives, but that humans have dictated how these lives should run. Perhaps the dogs are angry at having to live on human terms. A slew of colourful mad dogs grace the walls of hpgrp gallery in New York, where Kuroda did a live painting session to a soundtrack of Tom Waits, whose music has been compared by the artist to barking. Kuroda is currently working in studio space at the gallery to create paintings depicting how dogs may really feel.

Artist: Seitaro Kuroda
+ hpgrpgallery.com

Arthur Cohen's full-scale figurative paintings of a Korean Buddhist monk on a rope are part of a new exhibition entitled Now What? at Jack the Pelican Presents. The artist had a sturdy, knotted rope installed in his studio as an exercise climber. When he made the acquaintance of Sunim (which means teacher), this monk wanted to try the rope; it turns out he is a natural. In contrast, Cohen includes a series of self-portraits in the exhibition. The collection of paintings shows two men from very different backgrounds coming together in a unique way to obtain a state of zen.

Artist: Arthur Cohen
+ jackthepelicanpresents.com

Artist: Christian Vincent
+ mikeweissgallery.com

Artist: various
+ timothytaylorgallery.com

Artist: Carlos Ramos
+ coreyhelfordgallery.com

Artists: various
+ hpgrpgallery.com

Artist: James Marshall (Dalek)
+ irvinecontemporary.com