Michael Horsley, “11th St Facades,” (1984)

MICHAEL HORSLEY: HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS @ GALLERY O ON H

In the ’70s and ’80s, photographer Michael Horsley captured images of a very different Washington. This two-floor installation at Gallery O on H immerses the viewer in a vision of the nation’s capital as it looked some 40 years ago. Horsley writes, “I don’t view my photographs simply as historical documents or nostalgic time capsules. They are a collective memory of reality of a certain time.”

September 22, 2018-January 11, 2019 at Gallery on O, H 1354 H Street NE.

Rachel Whiteread’s “Ghost” (Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art)

RACHEL WHITEREAD @ NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

The National Gallery of Art’s busy fall slate includes the first comprehensive survey of work by Turner Prize-winning British sculptor Rachel Whiteread. Best known for room-sized plaster casts of negative space, Whiteread gives form to the ephemeral. In addition to her celebrated sculptures, the exhibition features drawings, photographs, and new works on view for the first time.

September 16, 2018-January 13, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse.

The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in autumn (Photo by Cathy Carver courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden)

TINO SEHGAL: THIS YOU @ HIRSHHORN

Over Labor Day weekend, Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal debuted the first live work acquired by the Hirshhorn for its permanent collection. For the entire run of the piece, a singer who will interact with museum visitors will be present in the Sculpture Garden during museum hours, in a bit of performance art that, according to the museum, will not be documented by photos or videos. The work is, “interpersonal in nature, composed of unanticipated, intimate moments that each visitor will experience in their own way.”

Through October 14 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Richard Tuttle’s “It looks different Yeah, it does look different.” (Image courtesy of Tom Barratt/Pace Gallery)

RICHARD TUTTLE: IT SEEMS LIKE IT’S GOING TO BE @ THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION

As part of the Phillips’ Intersections series, which asks contemporary artists to engage with the museum’s space, Richard Tuttle combined his poetry and artwork for an installation that includes 41 works, one for each verse of a poem. The pieces are juxtaposed with works hanging throughout the second floor of the recently renovated Phillips House, creating a dialogue with works by Henri Matisse, Barbara Hepworth and Auguste Rodin, among others.

September 13-December 30 at the Phillips Collection.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s “Woman Reading in the Studio” (Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art)

COROT: WOMEN @ NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) is best known as a landscape painter, but this exhibition, which features 45 canvases painted over a span of 40 years, focuses on his infrequent figure paintings, which were rarely seen outside the studio in his lifetime. As the National Gallery of Art writes, “His sophisticated use of color and his deft, delicate touch applied to the female form resulted in pictures of quiet majesty.”

September 9-December 31, 2018 at the National Gallery of Art

Mia Halton’s “Women with Purpose” (Image courtesy of McLean Project for the Arts)

MIA HALTON: ENCOUNTERS @ MCLEAN PROJECT FOR THE ARTS

In her drawings, paintings, and ceramic sculptures, Baltimore artist Mia Halton, “uses humor and metaphor to visually describe the joys, challenges and vagaries of being a human being in this world,” the McLean Project for the Arts writes. This exhibition includes work made during a recent residency in Puebla, Mexico.

September 13-November 3 at McLean Project for the Arts, 1446 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA. The opening reception takes place Thursday, September 13, 2018 from 7 p.m.-9 pm. Halton will hold an artist talk on Sunday, October 14 at noon.

“Seikan Ferryboat” (Image courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery in London)

JAPAN MODERN: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE GLORIA KATZ AND WILLARD HUYCK COLLECTION @ FREER

The Freer recently acquired a major collection of Japanese photography from filmmakers Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, who co-wrote the screenplay for American Graffiti with George Lucas and have long been avid art collectors. The images on view draw from the rich evolution of photography in Japan, from more conservative, traditional image makers to the modern iconoclasts that fueled a vital avant-garde.

September 29, 2018-January 21, 2019 at the Freer Gallery of Art.

“Orb with Moon” (Image courtesy of Torpedo Factory)

BRIAN KIRK: NATURAL REACTION @ ART LEAGUE

“Rust used to be my nemesis as a welder,” explains artist Brian Kirk. But where that process interfered with his work as a sculptor, it inspired his work as a printmaker. For these works, Kirk used an outdoor printing press to imprint keys, nails, or his own sculptures onto watercolor paper or linen, and the results have a warm, ghostly beauty.

Through October 7 at the Art League, 105 North Union Street, Alexandria, VA.