Chicago's Field Museum is holding an exposition of works from the Aztec Empire designed to alter our perception of that civilization. The pieces shown online are a show-stopper for any lover of the arts.

Stanford University is presenting a series called "Short Attention Span Theater" which should prove to be timely for our alka-seltzer world. This one is called "Life on a Reef", photographed in Micronesia.

William Eggleston's photographs, from his life on the Mississippi Delta, were once considered so banal that they were thought to be boring. He is now having a major exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art called "William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961 - 2008" as a counterpoint to his first rather disastrous showing years ago at the Museum of Modern Art. The related article by Holland Cotter from the New York Times gives additional background on the artist and his process.

Mark Rothko seems to provoke strong reactions among his viewers, some who admire his restraint and subtlety, others who find no sense in it. The Tate Modern is presenting his late works, exemplifying, in Rothko's own words, "If a thing is worth doing once, it is worth doing over and over again - exploring it, probing it, demanding by its repetition that the public look at it".

The Live Science Image Gallery is showing an exquisite series of photographs of life under the seas. What strikes me is the similarity of these natural forms to the imaginative creations of contemporary artists. While you are there, it is worth exploring some of their other slide shows, like Ants of the World and Rare and Exotic Birds. In fact, you could spend many hours sharing these images with the young ones in your family.

Born in Santa Monica, California in 1951, Matt Mullican now works in New York City investigating language and meaning. These pieces, from an exhibit at the Drawing Center called "A Drawing Translates the Way of Thinking", attempt to show "a picture of the world through the medium of drawing".

An unusual and thought-provoking exhibition by the Knowbotic Research group in Germany aims to confront the tension between the need to act in contemporary society and the impossibility of doing anything. Titled "Naked Bandit/ here, not here/white sovereign", the media company compares controls in today's world to the parent/child relationship, with some fascinating displays. The group got its name from "knowbots", a combination of knowledge and robots. More about them can be found at their website.

Back at the Tate Gallery, London, we find an excellent show of the works of Francis Bacon. Bacon was actually born in Ireland but spent most of his life in London. He has had two major retrospectives at the Tate.

Sculpturesite Gallery is offering "Bay Area Glass Sculpture", an invitational exhibit curated by George and Dorothy Saxe. The Saxes have collected a large number of works by glass artists, including the pioneers of the studio glass movement in the United States.

The German artist Katharina Grosse has been using the outsides of large buildings for her canvases. Shown here is her mural project for the Birmingham Central Library in England, crossing the borders between art and daily life.

A courageous group of women musicians working in Saudi Arabia is attempting to break the gender barriers in that society with their rock band. The Accolade Band has posted their music on MySpace. We wish them much success and hope for their safety.

Finally, a charming tiny French tot shares her vision of a contemporary fairy tale with us online. Even without the subtitles, you cannot fail to be enchanted by this expressive child. It would seem that J. K. Rowling has found her successor.

c.Corinne Whitaker 2008