Jump In: Visual Arts

Anish Kapoor's "Inwendig Volle Figur." (Courtesy of the artist and lisson gallery)

Museum of Fine Arts: The museum reopens its long-shuttered Fenway entrance on June 20 with hoopla suited to the Ionic columns and burbling fountains that frame it. Three exhibitions open that day: "Great Company: Portraits by European Masters" (through Jan. 5) draws on the museum's collection for some of its masterful portraits; "Preserving History, Making History: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston" (through Sept. 22) charts the MFA's story from its founding in 1870; "Winslow Homer: American Scenes" (through Dec. 7) spotlights the MFA's storehouse of Homer works. 617-267-9300, mfa.org

Anish Kapoor: Kapoor's sculptures inspire contemplation, but they don't invite you to stand still. Often large scale, with reflective or brightly covered surfaces, curving forms, and enticing concavities, the sculptures play with your perceptions. The Indian-born British artist, best known on this side of the Atlantic for mirrored public sculptures in Chicago's Millennium Park and New York's Rockefeller Center, has a survey of works since 1980 at the Institute of Contemporary Art. May 30-Sept. 7, 617-478-3100, icaboston.org

New landscapes: As an art form, landscape has been reinvented several times, and each new version captures its era's relationship between humanity and nature. What, then, is the newest landscape, as climate change becomes more pressing? "Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape" at Mass MoCA considers what visions and possibilities our collective worry has conjured. At Mass MoCA opening May 24. 413-662-2111, massmoca.org

Pen and ink: Cartoons, with their exaggerations and simplified forms, pack a particular visual punch. This summer they appear in exhibits as wildly divergent as "Raw Nerve! The Political Art of Steve Brodner," just in time for election season at the Norman Rockwell Museum, and "Laylah Ali: Notes/Drawings/Untitled Afflictions," at the DeCordova. Brodner, a savvy political cartoonist, uses his pen to make withering commentary. Ali, a painter, explores issues of identity, injustice, and anxiety. "Raw Nerve!" at the Norman Rockwell Museum, June 7-Oct. 26. 413-298-4100, nrm.org. "Laylah Ali" at the DeCordova Museum, Aug. 30-Jan. 4. 781-259-8355. decordova.org.

"Travels with Isabella": That Isabella Stewart Gardner. It turns out the world traveler and collector of art masterpieces was also an inveterate scrapbooker. When artist Luisa Rabbia spent time in residence at the Gardner Museum last year, she found Mrs. Gardner's scrapbook of a China trip, and spun her own art out of it - a video piece, with soundtrack by Swiss cosmic rocker Fa Ventilato. "Travels with Isabella, Travel Scrapbooks 1883/2008," at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, June 27-Sept. 28. 617-566-1401, gardnermuseum.org

CATE MCQUAID