Entering the Lois Foster Wing of The Rose Art Museum is like stepping into a dream. Bizarre visions of self-eating humanoids, formally clad businessmen frolicking in a jungle and nude middle-aged hippies embrace the viewer in a sea of vivid hues and commanding strokes. The works of Dana Schutz invite and perplex, shock and gratify at the same time. They are perpetually changing narratives, the artist's id, explored on more than two-dozen canvases on display now through April 9. The gallery opens with paintings of a nude man from the artist's series Frank from Observation, begun in 2002. Representing "the last man alive as viewed by the last spectator," the titular Frank comes to take on different attributes from his creator's imagination, as in a dream. From one painting to the next, he finds himself reclining, gazing at the stars, and living in a luscious jungle as a proboscis monkey.

Evolving on each canvas from a single idea, Frank actively responds to his creator as he is formed. In an interview with Raphaela Platow, chief curator of The Rose, Schutz referred to Frank as "a ball of Play-Doh rolled on the floor, pick[ing] up different attributes as the paintings went on."

Eventually, Schutz adapted Frank to other works, literally ripping him limb from limb and constructing new scenes, as in "The Breeders."

Color plays a prominent role in Schutz's narratives. Her palette is vibrant and expressive. In each painting, it interacts with the reality established by the narrative, ascribing it with meaning. Schutz sees her creative process as a kind of sculpture in paint. Her work is synthesized without excessive planning on the canvas. By "sculpting" the subject matter with thick strokes applied on top of one another, another part of the narrative is affected, requiring a completely different stroke, as in "50 Foot Queenie." Schutz's hallucinatory imagery is often infused with pop-cultural and political themes.

One painting, "Party," depicts the Bush administration right before the 2004 election. Condoleezza Rice is shown in the middle, supporting the president, flanked by two men in black suits. Schutz describes the members of the cabinet as "trying to hold things together, but falling apart internally."

Throughout the exhibition, Schutz's subject matter develops in complexity. Her flesh-consuming monsters begin interacting in small groups, finally entering a societal existence. These works in particular pose the question of creation and regeneration, among other themes. The Frank from Observation series, meanwhile, examines the function of art as an entity, independent of an audience.

Since Schutz received her M.F.A. from Columbia University in 2002, her work has been displayed in New York, as well as in cultural meccas of Europe such as Venice, Prague and Berlin. Schutz's work has been praised by critics and embraced by the public for its innovative and imaginative qualities. Her exhibition at the Rose marks her first one-person show in an East Coast museum.

The Rose also features On the Cusp, the works of New York-based artist Oliver Herring, which are on display in the Mildred S. Lee Gallery through March 4. Herring's work is anything but typical. Immersing himself in different media, including film and photography, he synthesizes surreal photo-montages, time-lapse sequences, images and sculptures. Herring's work revolves around the creative process: He is interested more in development than in the final product.

A source of his inspiration is the intimate connection he develops with his models during production. One work on display in the gallery, a life-sized sculpture of a U.S. soldier reclining on the floor with a book on his lap, is an ultra-real model of the original. The surface is covered by a jigsaw arrangement of photographs. It is a photo collage, with each piece corresponding to its analogue in the real soldier.

The effect is astoundingly realistic, to each wrinkle and blemish. This painstaking process is reflected on the walls of the gallery, where partially intact photographs tell the story of each complicated creation.