Capsule Art Reviews: "Apertura-Colombia," "How Artists Draw," "John Alexander: New Paintings and Drawings," "Miguel Angel Rojas: FotoFest 2008," "Perspectives 160: Dawoud Bey"

"Perspectives 160: Dawoud Bey" Dawoud Bey takes photographic portraits of high school students, but his large-scale images are a far cry from geeky yearbook photos or cheesy graduation portraits. Texts written by the students about themselves accompany and flesh out Bey's images. The students seem to hail from both inner-city pubic schools and elite private academies. Their stories are moving, revealing and amusing. A girl writes about her father dying from Lou Gehrig's disease. A black teen wishes people understood her culture and that she is from the Ngwa region of Nigeria. A bulky teenage boy writes about accidentally becoming a football lineman. Bey's DVD Four Stories is also on view. In the video, four different immigrant teenagers talk poignantly about their experiences, hopes and dreams. Bey films them in extreme close-up, never allowing you to see their whole faces, only their voices. The strategy is designed to make you really listen to the kids and keep you from making assumptions based on their appearances and dress. The only problem with this plan is that teenagers really shouldn't be shot this close up. It's a frank approach, but the macro shots of greasy, acne-laden adolescent skin can be distracting. Through May 11. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 5216 Montrose Blvd., 713-284-8250. — KK