2024 has been a strange year so far. Its days have gone by in a blur and it’ll be 2025 before you know it. But it’s not over yet. Sarasota’s visual art scene is still going strong. Our leading exhibition spaces are making the most of the few days left, showcasing a diverse range of local and international talent.

These aren’t the usual subjects. The curators of these exhibitions try hard not to repeat themselves. They’ve got a few surprises left in 2024. Here are just a few highlights.

‘Enduring Light’ – The Ringling

This exhibition will make you see the light. The photographs of Roy DeCarava and Danny Lyon provide the illumination.

In the 1950s and ’60s, both aimed their cameras at the Black experience and the struggle for civil rights. DeCarava captured everyday life on Harlem’s streets. His photographs of Paul Robeson and Billie Holiday were portraits of light. Lyon’s shutter opened at the cusp of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. The years when SNCC’s young activists stirred up the South, and organizers like John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr. touched the nation’s conscience. Christopher Jones, Jevon Brown and Natalia Benavides curated this show. “DeCarava and Lyon both contributed to the fight for Black lives during the civil rights era,” says Jones. “Their photographic legacy has enriched American visual culture and inspired generations of artists.” Through Feb. 9 at The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota; 941-359-5700; ringling.org

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‘Come Join the Parade!’ – Art Center Sarasota

To be a true artist, you need a unique perspective. E.A. Kahane had a great one. The photographer lived in New York City for decades. Her apartment’s third-floor window looked down on West 77th Street. For 364 days of the year, it was choked with traffic. On Nov. 28, there were no cars, buses or trucks in sight.

On that day, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade commanded the street. Beauty queens waved from floats, ponies pranced, and brass bands marched along the pavement. Giant cartoon balloons floated up above. Superman! Snoopy! Popeye! Quite a sight. Kahane didn’t waste it. When Thanksgiving rolled around, she aimed her camera at the ephemeral spectacle. And captured the passing parade for 25 years. This exhibition of Kahane’s photo series provides a great point of view. Dec. 5-Jan. 18 at Art Center Sarasota, 707 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-365-2032; artsarasota.org

‘Jack Davis: Legacy of Laughter’ – Ringling College

What’s so funny about Jack Davis? This show will let you know with 75 of Davis’ hilarious cartoons and illustrations. They’re all funny; they’re all good; and they’re just a tiny sample of the prolific artist’s output.

Davis’ cartoons show up in movie posters (“The Russians are Coming”), Mad magazine (nearly all of them), and E.C. horror comics (“The Crypt-Keeper.”) Fans will recall the energy, clarity and hilarity of his art. Davis was a pen-and-ink sharpshooter, and he hit his satiric targets every time.

His illustrations also helped Mad writers like Dick DeBartalo and Larry Siegel hit their satiric targets. Funny thing. You don’t need their words to laugh at Davis’ images. His art just plain looks funny. Real-world observation was the secret. Davis’ cartoons held up a funhouse mirror to reality. His caricatures of celebrities and everyday oddballs were distorted reflections. But you still recognize the reality they mocked. That’s why you laugh. Davis’ art in this show is just as funny as ever. Nov. 12–March 22 at the Stulberg Gallery, 1188 Martin Luther King Way, Sarasota; 941-359-7563; ringling.edu/galleries

‘Flesh and Bone’ – Sarasota Art Museum

This exhibition goes straight for the heart. The work of Larry Fink and Martha Posner is its heartbeat. He was a photographer; she was a sculptor. These two artists were madly in love. They were also an artistic team — but not artistic collaborators. It’s easy to see why. Posner’s sculpture reached for a higher reality. Her mythic figures were in the process of becoming. They kept fighting to fly away from this world. Fink’s gritty photographs were down to earth. His subjects were all too human. They kept their feet on the ground. The couple’s art took radically different paths. They rarely worked on shared creations. But they constantly critiqued each other’s creations. Their creative dialogue yielded helpful insights. Along with painful compromises, hurt feelings, arguments, and plenty of shouting.

As Posner observed, “We don’t throw pots and pans and slap each other and draw blood, but we’re loud. But we stay focused on what we’re upset about.” That focus was the point; the fighting was the price. Fink and Posner’s creative dialog had a heartbeat rhythm. Like iron sharpening iron, they made each other better. This exhibition reveals the results in their work. The couple’s art stands side-by-side. Their creative dialog is silent. But you can almost hear them talking. Nov. 17–April 13 at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-309-4300; sarasotaartmuseum.org