As a teenager, San Francisco artist Tom Ferentz photographed the street in Illinois where he grew up. Thirty-something years later, he returned to create this new body of photographs, which are interwoven with written memories and meditations.
Nine Gallery, 1231 NW Hoyt, 225-0210, Through Feb.

Portrait of a Ghost NYC artist Dave McKenzie has cast self-portraits of himself as a bobblehead, written letters to loved ones in braille and turned a basketball inside out. In the video piece, We Shall Overcome, McKenzie, who is black, dons a suit and Clinton mask while walking through the streets of Harlem. He navigates the sidewalks in the cartoonish mask, onlookers greeting him with a mix of enthusiastic smiles and blank stares, while a version of the title song plays in the background. McKenzie's work, like all good conceptual art, proves far better at raising questions than answering them. RD
Savage Art Resources, 1430 SE Third Ave, 230-0265, Through March 19

Matthew Picton British-born Ashland resident Matthew Picton has been hyperbolized as one of the greatest installation artists in the country by the local press. While that's a rather ludicrous claim, Picton's road-surface drawings are quite amazing to behold.
Mark Woolley Gallery, 120 NW 9th Suite 210, 224-5475, Through Feb. 26