"Johnny Cash," 2007

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Creating fraudulent postage stamps is certainly not a new concept, but artist Michael Hernandez de Luna takes his faux stamp collection a step further. Hernandez de Luna mailed letters to himself from all over the world using his digitally created stamps. The stamps depict subjects ranging from Hillary Clinton flashing her chest, Johnny Cash giving the finger, and the garish plastic face of a blow-up doll. Most of the stamps compiled in his new book “American Beauty” use controversial images to comment on religion, politics and culture. Hernandez de Luna has received a remarkable amount of negative feedback for what critics call his irreverent form of mail fraud. Though he is committing a crime and his images are sometimes shocking it is more shocking that a government employee looked at the stamp and likely thought, “Yes, this is a government-sanctioned postage stamp,” and continued to pass it through the delivery system—and perhaps they didn’t even care. Bottom-line, the prints are witty and fun in a provoking manner, and the dual effect of the salacious images and the idea that they traveled full circle (each presented here with proof of delivery) through the postal system is, if not a political statement, engagingly fun to view. (Rachel Turney)

Through October 18 at Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells, (312)266-8512.

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A self-described archeologist of the contents of ladies’ handbags since he was a child, Francois Robert has his subjects empty their purses, arranges what pours out in designs worthy of a food photographer and then shoots his compositions, including his subjects’ hands, in color. The wild yet always themed diversity of things that women carry with them shows that there is no general answer to the question of what they want. One bag coughed up a plethora of fresh food, another a mountain of bead necklaces, a third a ream of sales slips and a fourth two bristling key chains worthy of a janitor, along with the usual suspects like drivers’ licenses and insurance cards. Robert also found more motley collections, but they also evinced unities of temperament and lifestyle. Vive la différance! (Michael Weinstein)

Through August 28 at Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells. (312)266-8512.

With her resume boasting an extensive career with Leo Burnett and exhibits chair at Intuit: The Center for Outsider Art, one might expect something markedly less subdued for Jan Petry’s first solo show. “Juicy,” however, is an exhibit in simplicity, featuring fourteen works of organic wooden sculpture. The sculptures, reflective of Petry’s history as a collector of folk materials, are crafted largely of simple found elements. To call these works minimalistic would border on understatement: solitary blocks of maple, walnut burl and cedar mounted on pieces of ebony or bound with rawhide spot the gallery, each unique, though overwhelmingly similar. “Let Them Eat Fake,” one of the more playful works in the collection, features a single hunk of walnut burl resting upon a sterling silver plate, generating an amusing resemblance to crumb cake. Petry’s whimsy is the crux of her show, but is unfortunately relegated to the titles of her works. Without their monikers, Petry’s woodwork is reduced to fine sanding and rich tung oil finishes—sometimes, not even this: “Primary,” a single branch of unfinished cedar mounted on an ebony plank, is stripped of its charm when anonymous, particularly when held in contrast to the carefully tended knots and oiled grain of “Survivor.” The craftsmanship found in “Juicy” is undeniable, yet the true richness of this exhibit is hidden in Petry’s witty titling, not her varnish. Perhaps the artist’s next show will more successfully align the two. (Jaime Calder)

Through June 28 at Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells, (312)266-8512.

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Chicago native Chris Ware is perhaps best known for his graphic novel “Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth,” from 2000. Ware’s genius comes from his ability to draw in a multitude of literary, visual, graphic and cinematic techniques to create texts that are so densely packed they can be, well, a bit daunting. It is easy to get lost reading a single page of a book by Ware over and over, admiring the text, the layout, the tiny cut-out models Ware includes so that those of us who are spatially challenged may create a mock-up of the environment his characters inhabit. Currently installed at Carl Hammer is work from Ware’s most recent publications, “The Acme Novelty Library #17” and “#18.” “#17” continues the story of Rusty Brown, a pensive fourth grader; while “#18” returns to Ware’s “Building Stories,” roughly set in 2000 in a Chicago apartment building. (Kristin Brockman)

Through May 24 at  Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells. (312)266-8512.

Dreams of fires and tornados are extremely frightening. Having grown up in tornado alley of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Marilyn Murphy’s paintings parallel her personal life with symbolism and surrealism. Her exhibit consists of half graphite drawings and half colorful oil paintings redolent of Wizard of Oz (think black and white movie turns into color and contains a twister). Most of Murphy’s works feature a fire ablaze in the background burning the tall grass. Her paintings are sole landscapes of rotundas, a garden and canopied beds on a lawn. Stars twinkle in the night sky, palm trees sway, but sometimes the landscape bursts into flames and sometimes feet randomly float into the scenery. Murphy’s graphite pictures include motifs of clouds and people dressed in fifties attire. Usually the people are seen from behind or have their faces eclipsed by clouds. With “Twister,” the deadly object ominously touches down tearing up the ground as a rural family looks on in fascination. “Lawn Bowlers” features an upper-class couple throwing balls into a fiery brush. In “Taking the Plunge,” a man dives head first into a sea of puffy white clouds. Murphy allows her dreams to transform into magnificent consciousness. (Garin Pirnia)

Through April 12 at Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells.