Because watching Tony Stark and the gang doesn’t exactly count as a cultural experience, we’re bee lining to the MMFA to soak in an all-new exhibit.

Beyond Pop: Tom Wesselman (opening tomorrow and running until early October) examines the work of a man who is considered influential in the Pop Art movement and yet hasn’t been the focus of a major exhibit in Canada… until now, of course.

Also not to be missed? A complementary showing of 18 prints (including the stunning “Unicef Bouquet” silkscreen shown at right) at the Galerie de Bellefeuille.

Both are must-sees, as is the new rom-com hitting theatres today. #oldhabitsdiehard —Christine Laroche

MMFA, 1380 Sherbrooke St. W., 514-285-2000, Galerie de Bellefeuille, 1367 Greene Ave., 514-933-4406, www.mbam.qc.ca

We must admit, we’re completely obsessed with instagram. The photo-sharing iPhone app makes our amateur shots look as amazing as Ansel Adams’.

Now, to show-off even more we’re using Casetagram ($34.95) to create an iPhone case covered in a collage of our most artistic snaps. We chose one of their many templates (Le Corbusier), allowed the app to access our photos, and pieced together a picture of our life.

Now that’s picture perfect! —Jennifer Nachshen

www.casetagram.com

We’ve always said that Denis Gagnon’s elaborate designs were museum-worthy, and now the art world is finally taking notice.

Our Darling Denis is centre stage at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until February 13, with the exhibition Denis Gagnon Shows All, falling fittingly between the Yves Saint Laurent and Jean Paul Gaultier shows. Video projections of the designer’s dramatic runway shows are surrounded by some of his most intricate garments, highlighting the artistry of Gagnon’s decade-long career in design.

Now that’s an exhibit that really suits our style.

Denis Gagnon Shows All at the MMFA, www.mbam.qc.ca

With cooler days setting in we’re in need of indoor artistic pursuits.

Rouge Cabaret: The Terrifying and Beautiful World of Otto Dix is an electrifying new exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts featuring 220 paintings, watercolors and prints by the controversial German painter. Called a degenerate by some of his contemporaries, his striking (and sometimes unsettling) works capture the disconsolate mood in Europe between the two World Wars.  Most powerful are his portraits of artists and bohemians such as a 1927 oil on wood image of a cat-like woman reclining on leopard skin.

In we go.

Tickets $15; September 24 to January 2, 2011, Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, 1380 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, 514-285-2000, www.mmfa.qc.ca

We’re having an attack of the arts now that cutting-edge gallery Yves Laroche has moved uptown.

Starting the party in its massive Mile End space is a thought-stirring show guest-curated by San Francisco’s “art provocateur” Justin Giarla. Looking East features urban inspired pieces by Shepard Fairey (the man responsible for Obama’s iconic Hope poster), layered pop art by Greg Gossel, and a tired J.Lo lookalike in pearls by Aaron Nagel.

Artastic!

Until June 23, Yves Laroche Galerie D’Art, 6355 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, 514-393-1999, www.yveslaroche.com

Annie and Ansel aside, it’s tough living off the avails of one’s photographic art.

So we’re rather impressed by Montreal snapper Arold Blanchet, who’s making his name selling limited edition prints in miniature. His series of black-and-white prints are displayed around town in portable kiosks and feature Montreal-centric scenes like bikes in the snow, café culture, lonely parking meters and back alley graffiti. At just $4.65 a pop, collect them all and you’ve officially become a patron of the arts in a snap.

At Papeterie Nota Bene, 3416 Parc Ave., Montreal, 514-485-6587, www.nota-bene.ca and Boutique Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, 185 Ste-Catherine St. W., Montreal, 514-847-6906, www.macm.org

Thomas Crown was a pro at switching paintings under the noses of museum guards (much to the chagrin of Catherine Banning).

Without resorting to thievery, we’re getting our own rotating gallery by renting from Art Anywhere. Choose your favourite painting, drawing or photograph online and it’s then shipped directly from a local artist and you can keep it on your wall for a whole month. We’re starting out the year with Roger Guetta’s digital In Nature #1 for the living room and Simon Dutil-Paquette’s striking mixed media Sommes-nous toujours authentiques? in the breakfast nook.

Too bad they can’t send us Pierce Brosnan - he’d look just perfect in the bedroom.

Pieces from $25/per month, www.artanywhere.com

Could our 1982 poster of Ricky Schroder be considered art?   Wait long enough and it just might happen.

Since discovering L’Affichiste, we’re as excited as a school girl. Part gallery, part boutique, this charming space carries original vintage posters and pochoirs (from $100) collected by owner Karen Etingin. Here you’ll find jaunty '50s Air France posters, stunning color lithographs from the Parisian Belle Époque, and 1920s fashion images from The Gazette du Bon Ton (the Hello! of its day).

L'Affilchiste, 417 des Seigneurs St., #2, Montreal, 514-831-5121, www.laffichiste.com

We never thought we’d be quite so enamored by musk oxen, but so it is.

Enter the animal kingdom at Etat Sauvage, a tented exhibit of 130 National Geographic photos on display across from the Bell Centre. From necking Tanzanian giraffes and singing Kenyan hippos, to leaping lions from Botswana and packs of Russian reindeer, the oversized images and subtle sounds of wind, snow and birds is a walk on the wild side.

Etat Sauvage, tickets $12, until September 7 under the big tent, De la Montagne, south of René-Lévesque Blvd., Montreal, www.etat-sauvage.com

No need to be named Rockefeller or Bronfman to become a patron of the arts.

Subscribe to Papirmasse and after one year, you’ll have amassed an entire collection of arty originals. For a $60 fee, each month they’ll send you a signed lithograph by an emerging Canadian artist. Past images include photos, illustrations and a psychedelic oil reproduction featuring Kim Yong-il. As an added bonus, the back side of each print contains poetry, musings and short stories by up-and-coming writers. 

Feed an artist, starve a fever. Because really, isn’t it time to retire that ratty Klimt poster from your university days?

$60/12 prints (plus shipping), www.papirmasse.com