By Marilyn Bauer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

What will the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art do for an encore? How do you top an inaugural show that along with the Zaha Hadid-designed building caused a creative tsunami in the art world?

How about featuring a group of beautiful losers, a bell that when rung produces a fleeting image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, skater ephemera, velvet paintings and a new look at the 1980s?

"One thing that is really going to surprise people is just how dramatically different the museum will be from exhibition to exhibition," says Charles Demarais, the center's director. "It will be quite a lesson for people. They will see that the combination of the building and works of art will be extraordinary."

At first glance the lineup appears quite diverse, and shows will be mounted for much longer times than in the old Contemporary Arts Center. Of course with so much more space, the museum has the opportunity to show not only more art but more kinds of art.

Here is a preview of the season:

Nov. 22-Nov. 21, 2004: Crimes and Misdemeanors: Politics in U.S. Art of the 1980s.

This exhibition will offer a social and critical account of '80s art through work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ashley Bickerton, Ross Blechner, Karen Finley, the Guerilla Girls, Hans Haacke, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman and others.

Nov. 22-Feb. 15: Moshekwa Langa

Born in South Africa more than a decade before the end of apartheid, Langa left for Amsterdam three years ago. His work explores the poetic aspects of his move.

Dec. 6-Feb. 29: Polly Apfelbaum: A Retrospective

The first survey of Apfelbaum's glorious velvet "paintings" that consist of vegetable-dyed slices of fabric meticulously strewn over the gallery floor.

Feb. 28-May 16: Renee Green:Wavelinks

Green's video installations draw on insights from philosophy, theology, film criticism and psychoanalysis and create historical narratives on subjects such as the 19th century investigation of the black body; deep links between German classical music and American jazz, rap, funk and hip-hop; and the relationship between 1960s radicalism and contemporary art.

March 13-May 30: Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Skateboard Culture

An exhibition of multimedia art and design of 50 artists influenced by street culture: skateboarding, graffiti, punk and hip-hop. Although some of the artists have made names for themselves, most of the beautiful losers will be receiving their first real exposure.

May 29-Aug. 15: Sanford Biggers

New York artist Sanford Biggers will create a Cincinnati specific installation environment combining sculpture, music and performance.

June 12-Aug. 29: Paul Kos: Everything Matters, A Retrospective

Kos' work with sound grapples with faith and the paradoxes of belief, time and entropy and the interpersonal and national divisions that lead to war. The first major survey of his work, this exhibition will include 20 pieces, including Guadalupe Bell - a bell that when rung, produces on the wall a fleeting image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

E-mail mbauer@enquirer.com