Trevor Paglen, Bernardo Bellotto

Episode No. 381 features artist Trevor Paglen and curator Nancy Edwards.

From Friday, Feb. 22, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is presenting "Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen," a mid-career survey. Paglen's work examines the nexus of power, systems, state intelligence and the military, usually in an effort to make the invisible visible. Among the institutions devoting exhibitions to Paglen's art are the Vienna Secession, and the Kunstverein in Frankfurt. He's written five books and is a MacArthur 'genius' fellowship recipient. "Paglen" is at MCASD's downtown location through June 2. It was curated by John P. Jacob and organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which published the show's terrific catalogue. Amazon offers it for $37.

On the second segment, Kimbell Art Museum curator Nancy Edwards discusses "The Lure of Dresden: Bellotto at the Court of Saxony." The exhibition features onetime Canaletto studio-hand Bernardo Bellotto's extraordinary broad, yet detailed view paintings of Dresden and its environs. (Bellotto was the court painter in Dresden from roughly 1748-58.) The exhibition is on view through April 28. The excellent catalogue was published by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and Sandstein Verlag. Amazon offers it for $33.