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Few things are as exciting to a contemporary art collector as a grad student show.

The creative atmosphere in a university art department is supercharged, and, through collaboration and competition, the envelope is pushed.

We get a glimpse now and then, and there isn't a pretty landscape or classical portrait to be seen. A university can be counted on for cutting-edge art, bless Õem.

Albuquerque's best student show opens tonight. "Out of the Underground" is the 13th annual juried exhibition of work by graduate students in the University of New Mexico Department of Art & Art History. The master of fine arts program at UNM is three years long, and the show includes the work of first- through third-year students. UNM is different from most universities, which show only third-year students.

"Out of the Underground" was juried by SITE Santa Fe curator and director Laura Steward Heon, who considered more than 80 entries to settle on 31 works by 17 artists in painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, video, installation and sculpture.

The exhibition is divided between two venues: UNM's Jonson Gallery and 516 Arts Downtown. The decision to expand the show was a good one. We experience a broader range of work - the large pieces and video installations are shown to better effect in the soaring 516 Arts space - and the students receive off-campus exposure, which they deserve.

The collection is provocative, intellectual and, at times, startling. No two artists are remotely alike, and the variety makes for a dynamic experience.

One treat of a grad student show is getting a first look at emerging artists. Many of this group will go on to bigger and better things, and this is a chance to see, and buy, their work in the early going.

Here are some to watch:

Jonson Gallery

• Karl Hofmann is just plain terrific. His painting "Let Go" from last year's grad show was a psychedelic, densely layered abstract exploding in color and movement. This year Hofmann translated that vision, and impeccable composition, to three dimensions.

In "Twisted Mister," he builds an atom gone wild out of pipe cleaners, badminton birdies, screens, balls, dowels, clips, ribbons and paper towels. It's a cacophony of color swirling around a mysterious nucleus, all suspended from the ceiling. Peer into the hive, and be amazed.

• Larry Bob Phillips is a major presence. His monumental colored-pencil drawing "Landscape for Merle Haggard" is made up of 12 panels. Lines flow between them, meandering into and out of images set in lush foliage. Two skeletons are up to . . . something, a hand paints a face, dwarfs chug-a-lug. It's fun and fascinating to follow the maze and interpret the story.

• Erin Emiko Kawamata's "Intricacies" is small but powerful. In five panels, she deconstructs and builds a face, commenting on what makes us who we are. Her piece is exquisitely composed of rice paper, thread, graphite and digital images.

• Three inkjet photos make up the "Living Room Series" by Carrie Cooper. She shows us three rooms, all illuminated by the white light of a TV. They're devoid of people, but it seems they just left. Pillows are scrunched, a watch sits on a coffee table. Only the TV is present, a constant in our lives.

516 Arts

• Robert Rainey's "Two-Way" series is ingenious and thought-provoking. We see three light boxes. When the light is off, a two-way mirror reflects the viewer. When turned on, we see a portrait of a nondescript man (Rainey) posing with someone. Is it his wife? Is it his lover? Is it his son? Is he gay? Is he straight? You decide.

Rainey explores notions of class, race, gender, role-playing and sexual identity in his seemingly normal pairings. It's a powerful look at what's behind the image.

• Kevin Wesley worked with archival digital prints and 3-D graphics in his stunning "Predator." On a mottled, soft-focus background, Wesley places the sharp image of a man colliding with a deer. The bloody impact speaks volumes about man's co-existence with animals and nature. It's scathing.

There's much more to see at both venues, including the wonderful video installations "Hole," "Up Down" and "The Field" by Joseph Mougel, and "Spoken" by Min Kim Park.

Let these young artists take you by the hand for a look at what art can, and will, be.