Ai Weiwei's first major survey of his work in the United States? Need we say more? Go to the Hishhorn Musuem and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC and see the work of one of the most important contemporary artists today. It is on view until February 24th.

We are in a Washington, DC mood this week, obviously, and perhaps the locales there knew about J. Seward Johnson's amazing The Awakening sculpture, but we just learned of it. The 70 foot sculpture has been around since 1980, and was selected for the International Sculpture Conference Exhibition. The piece is made of aluminum, with much buried under the surface.Of course, the parts that are visible make the piece that much more dramatic.

Beginning on August 20, 2012, visitors to the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC can experience the transformative installation by influential and renowned artist (and November 2010 cover artist) Barbara Kruger. “Belief+Doubt” covers the lower-level lobby entry to the museum bookstore, about 6,700 square feet of surface—including walls, floor and escalator sides—covered in text-printed vinyl, surrounding viewers with lettering up to 12 feet high in a high-contrast color scheme that has become Kruger's custom of red, white and black.

Alexa Meade has long been a subject of our fascination and awe, as she transforms live models into living paintings in both gallery and performance settings. She brings paintings to life, so to speak. Tonight, June 6, at the National Portrait Gallery Museum in Washington, DC, Meade will create a pair of portraits with live models—one in a black-and-white scene and a second on a similar, but full-color set, with viewers being able to watch and interact with the process.

The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC has denied the request of Canadian photographer AA Bronson to have his famed photograph, "Felix, June 5, 1994," removed from the Gallery's Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture exhibition. The point of contention after the jump . . .