It's worth your time to drop in at the Fresno Art Museum these days.

The contemporary venue's Winter Exhibitions offer some vibrant and powerful work. Some pieces are flat-out thought-provoking. Some combine a historical inspiration with a contemporary bent. Some are just lovely in their simplicity of line and color.

One exhibition I won't go into detail about here is Thomas Ingmire's "Words of Peace" display. I'll be writing a standalone story on it for The Bee's Life section in early February.

But I wanted to give folks a heads up on the other four exhibits that we mentioned in a story in last Friday's "7" section. And, if you do take a stroll through these works -- or have seen them -- let me know what you think.

The Winter Exhibitions run through March 2. You won't be disappointed:

-- "Binh Danh: The Botany of Bien Chuyen." FAM curator Jaquelin Pilar says this one is "very haunting" and "a very, very powerful exhibition."

In subdued lighting with each print in a black frame, this is an "in-your-face" exhibit ...You have to stand close to see what is there: the faces of people, including children, many of whom died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Their images are almost like vapor, surviving on the thin, delicate surfaces of leaves.

Binh Danh, born in Vietnam, was relocated to a Malaysian refugee camp with his family. They immigrated to the U.S., settling in San Jose. On a return trip to a refugee camp, Pilar says, Danh photographed the photos and documents that were left scattered there. He then began developing a unique process of transferring those images onto the surfaces of leaves and using resin to preserve the art.

The small photographs remind you of sepia-toned pictures. The faces stare back, captured in snapshots amid untold horror. A few of Danh's pieces include butterflies, which he says are symbols of transmigration and metamorphism. Pilar says: "It speaks to the fragility of life."

-- "Wanxin Zhang: California Artists, Too!" This one is subtitled "Ceramic Dialogues -- Manchuria to San Francisco."

"Whimsy" isn't the right word to describe these clay-and-glazed figures. "Fun" is more like it. Or "funky." Most of the figures are on a smaller scale than life-sized but that doesn't detract from their delight.

The inspiration is rooted in the historic terra cotta tomb soldiers discovered and excavated in Xian, China since 1974. But Wanxin Zhang, born in China and now living in San Francisco, zooms them into the modern age. Pilar says he's very much a part of the Northern California, Bay Area funk art scene.

Example? The figure called "Times Square" at a first, quick glance looks like a terra cotta soldier. But, wait, isn't he wearing John Lennon-like sunglasses? Isn't that a saxophone he's holding with his right hand? Aren't those Chinese characters scribbled all over his tunic? (By the way, the glasses are a Zhang trademark called "lunette" eyeglasses.)

Another example -- "Surfer." He's glazed in hues of cool, Pacific Ocean-on-a-sunny-afternoon blues. I'm not sure if he's a surfer or a snowboarder; the board he's on could be almost as tall as him. But he's got the hip, slouchy stance of a young, confident snowboarder or skateboarder. And he's wearing terra cotta, mod-style garb.

-- "Japonisme: Selections from the Elisabeth Dean Collection of French Prints." This collection includes lithographs and wood-block prints that demonstrate the influence of Japanese art on many French Post-Impressionistic artists. It spans a period of time between 1895 and 1913, when lithographs were making art available to more people than just the wealthy.

"Les Lapins" features two rabbits, one in black and one white. An 1893 woodcut by Henri Charles Guerard, it's an interesting piece because it not only shows an Asian influence in style but seems retro-contemporary.(By that, I mean there's a timeless aspect to it.)

Another piece, "L'Heure de Silence" (The Hour of Silence) also seems retro-modern in its simplicity of line and color. By Henri Meunier in 1897, it shows a woman in profile. Her hair is brown, her blouse is green, the sky is a hue of burnt orange and the sun a deep, dark orange. The fingers of one hand are positioned under around her chin. Is she contemplative? Or worried about something?

-- "Caitlin McCaffrey: Searching for the Buddha's Finger." This photography exhibit has a double aspect to it. You'll find photos that the San Francisco-born artist took on a trip to China. And then there are large photographs that McCaffrey recently took in Chinatown neighborhoods in San Francisco and New York.

Pilar says those larger photographs were shot after midnight by whatever light was available, such as passing cars or neon. The results are often surreal, moody visuals.

If you decide to go, the Fresno Art Museum is at 2233 N. First St., between Clinton and McKinley avenues. The museum is open Tuesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (to 8 p.m. on Thursdays). Admission is $4; $2 students and seniors; and free to children 5 and under. You can call the museum at (559) 441-4221.