Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, the big summer show that opened at the Asian Art Museum last weekend, does no less than ponder the nature and origins of the universe and the invisible forces that shape our lives.

Check out these must-see exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Dick Show brushes against ideas of gender. The show has been curated by Jack Davis, a long-time Radical Faerie well known for crocheting and exhibiting penis covers.

The exhibition, now at the San Francisco Main Library Gallery, brings its subject to life on the centennial of his birth, and illuminates the intersection of activism and personal biography, political conscience and humanity.

Underground commix bad boy R. Crumb, the big daddy of 1960s San Francisco counterculture, is having his very first comprehensive museum show - in Paris, no less.

If you’re interested in uncovering a wealth of photography, Mexico might not be the first place you’d look.

With his gentle demeanor, mustache, and twinkling eyes, John Bankston is as congenial as one would surmise from his artistic creations.

This fall, the sheer abundance and variety of gallery shows make a fool of anyone tempted to cover all the bases. By no means comprehensive, here’s a microcosmic survey of what’s on tap from now until the end of the year.

Bali, a Southeast Asian mecca for Western tourists seeking the promise of paradise, a tropical tan and the sort of spiritual awakening glamorized by the pop culture phenomenon Eat, Pray, Love, gets a thorough and rather fine art-historical treatment

Well, 2010 is nearly out the door, and the time has come to reflect on the year that was. An eclectic year at the museums, 2010 was also a year of milestones.

A new exhibit Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey, at the Contemporary Jewish Museum explores the world of the children’s book icon.

’Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker’ at the CJM

Two wonderful new photography shows opened at SFMOMA last week: Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, and Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera since 1870.

Two exhibitions highlight Japanese art this fall in local museums. Here’s a look at both of them.