Sally Mann is that rare artist who can capture a soul. The rural Virginia-born photographer’s portfolio is raw, indelibly Southern and gothic in its splendor. Her work has often made people uncomfortable as it showcases death, decomposition, and nudity, with critics raging against her photos of her own nude children frolicking. Mann and her work have been controversial, but never without influence. Her story has always been one rooted in darkness, the particular darkness of the American South—she was born in a home that was once inhabited by Confederate general Stonewall Jackson. But in that darkness, her artistry was also birthed, and her photos reflect back on it, revealing something new to us: ourselves. Eerie monochrome shots of ghostly swamps and portraits of young cherubic Southern children that don’t quite seem of this Earth reveal the ugliness and beauty that may be deep inside all of us in equal measure. Read more>>> The exhibition is on view to May 28 at the National Gallery of Art West Building, 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. nga.gov. (Kayla Randall)

OH AND ALSO

Check out large-scale Burning Man art installations that take over the entire Renwick Gallery building at the exhibition No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 1661 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free.

Arena Stage presents its new production of Two Trains Running, August Wilson‘s masterpiece about the everyday lives of Pittsburgh residents who confront a changing world during the civil rights movement. 7:30 p.m. at 1101 Sixth St. SW. $91.

Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of women’s rights organization The New Agenda, stops by Politics and Prose at The Wharf to chat about her catalog of the Trump administration, The List: A Week-By-Week Reckoning of Trump’s First Year. 7 p.m. at 70 District Square SW. Free.

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