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Coming off a series of exhibitions that reached into the past, the Albuquerque Museum did a 360.

The inaugural "Biennial Southwest" presents 103 contemporary artworks from New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. It's the museum's first juried regional modern art exhibit.

And it's a breath of fresh air.

While the recent African art exhibit and the three-part, yearlong show of Spanish art spanning six centuries were spectacular, indeed, the contemporary biennial takes us to the thrilling cutting-edge of art, where we see things never seen before.

Neal Benezra, director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, juried the show. Benezra has been a modern art curator at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. He has organized a variety of acclaimed exhibitions, including retrospectives of Edward Ruscha, Bruce Nauman, Martin Puryear and Robert Arneson.

Benezra chose well from the 1,050 submissions by 550 artists from the three states, providing a comprehensive view of the state of contemporary art in the Southwest. He called the submissions a "vigorous body of work."

Painting, sculpture, photography, media and multimedia pieces are well represented. While some pieces are a tad bland, the majority are intellectually challenging, original, beautifully executed and, ultimately, mesmerizing.

William Betts' "Killer," an acrylic on canvas, was named best in show, and it is. The Houston artist used a software program to apply thousands of drops of paint to the canvas, creating a scene from a surveillance camera. Up close, the painting is a moody, muted composition of color and shadow.

As I stepped back, a chill literally ran up my spine as the image slowly came into focus. It's amazing, and alone worth the price of admission.

Other standouts are the photograph "We've Been Together 38 Years" by Gay Block of Santa Fe, a wonderful portrait of a lesbian couple; the totally surprising oil painting "Dead Knight" by Aaron Campbell of Albuquerque; and "Trinket Lace," a curtain made of a wild assortment of rings, mesh, paper, bobbins, chips, dice, Scrabble pieces and other flotsam.

In "Nucleus Universe," Jessica Drenk of Tucson, Ariz., took a mundane object (I won't spoil the secret) and elevated it to the level of high art. She brilliantly created levels of pattern, color and texture. It's lovely, and very funny.

There are many more treasures. It was a treat to see the edgy photography of University of New Mexico MFA grad Justin Lane, who took Best in Photography; and a color-drenched landscape by local gallery owner Page Coleman.

It adds up to a thought-provoking, smile-provoking and wonder-ful time.

Douglas Fairfield, curator of art at the Albuquerque Museum, sees the biennial as a changing force in the way contemporary art is perceived in New Mexico. "Biennial Southwest will establish the Albuquerque Museum as a national force in supporting contemporary art," he says.

Music to my ears.