This is one of the best months for art in Houston, when art spaces close their old exhibits and launch their new ones. Six interesting shows open this weekend for your art-viewing pleasure, and that’s just the beginning. January will also see the opening of a new gallery in town, Art Palace, which has already generated a lot of buzz. (More on that next week.) Photo by Tim Gonzalez: Texas Galoot by Ron Hoover, 1990, oil on canvas

Opening Friday:

“Caroline: A Collective Experience,” photographs at the Caroline Collective. Deliberately recalling Ed Ruscha’s famous artist’s book, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, the Caroline Collective has rounded up 12 photographers to photograph the entirety of both sides of Caroline from the 3800 block to the 5800 block. They will be displayed in order, recreating the street block by block, house by house. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Runs through February 19.

“Joseph Cohen: Forging the Path of the Concrete” at Wade Wilson Art. Joseph Cohen’s abstract paintings are influenced by concrete art (think De Stijl and Mondrian) but has recently incorporated three-dimensional aspects (and in doing so, follows in the footsteps of an early great De Stijl artist, Joaquín Torres García, who recently had a show of three dimensional painted work at the Menil.) Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Runs through February 13.

"Myriad,” sculpture by Paul Booker, and “Masnavi,” sculpture by Simeen Farhat at Anya Tish Gallery. Two sculptors get their inaugural Houston shows here. Farhat’s work looks especially interesting, with sculptural representations of Urdu words. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Runs through February 6.

Sun City Girls by Lambertus “Berry” Van Boekel

Lambertus “Berry” Van Boekel, paintings and drawings at Peel Gallery. Since 1983, Van Boekel has been compiling an annual list of 100 songs he liked that year and creating a painting or drawing for each. This show is a selection of the more than 2,000 song paintings and drawings Van Boekel has completed. Opening reception 6-9:30 p.m.

Opening Saturday:

“Ron Hoover—A Retrospective: 1972-2006” at the Art Car Museum. The late satirical painter gets a show of his colorful images of beefy, menacing politicians and businessmen. Opening reception 7-10 p.m. Runs through March 5.

“Charmed,” new sculpture, video, and digital prints by Ramzy Telley at G Gallery. Telley is best known for being a videographer (he photographed the Academy Award-nominated film The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo), but his sculptures are worth a look, too. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Runs through January 31.