Heads up!

Or down. Or all around.

Heads, 81 of them, to be exact, are what you’ll find at the University of Maine Museum of Art’s newest exhibition. Well, you can try to find them anyway.

“It’s like a treasure hunt,” museum director Wally Mason said. “That question’s going to come out: ‘Where are all the heads?'”

They’re all there, spread out over two gallery spaces. In fact, a few heads had to roll when the curators realized there were actually 84 of them. There’s a Picasso portrait of a goat and an engraving of Martin Luther King Jr. by Ben Shahn. Waldo Peirce’s “Mother Almost Asleep, Artist Also,” adds a bit of sweetness to the show, while David Hockney’s abstract head, composed on a photocopier, adds a little whimsy. All are culled from the university’s collection.

“We said, ‘Let’s do something really playful,’ but it also pulls out some real gems or things that haven’t been seen for a few years,” Mason said.

Hung salon-style, the show invites dialogue from the viewer and from painting to painting. How do they relate? What do they have to say to each other? And how do you cram 81 heads into 33 frames? You’ll just have to see it to find out.

The second show on view at the UMMA is “diametrically opposed” to the heads. In the main galleries, Kenro Izu’s quiet, reverential work focuses on the world’s sacred spaces. Izu, a Japanese-born photographer, has spent decades toting 300 pounds of equipment around the globe, from the mountains of northern Nepal to the shores of Chile’s Easter Island.

The resulting platinum-palladium prints, in black and white, feel more like 19th century paintings than contemporary photographs.

“They’re very romantic,” Mason said. “They pay tribute to Ansel Adams – to [him] and Edward Weston, the landscape becomes god. But to Kenro Izu, the constructed edifice becomes god.”

Through dramatic lighting, bold compositions and large-format negatives, which allow background details to be seen quite clearly, Izu’s images are as worshipful as the places they represent.

“They’re really a personal way of looking at these places and these images,” Mason said.

Izu’s work is a spiritual journey – from Stonehenge to the pyramids to a dark panorama that at first appears to be nothing. As you approach the photograph, it becomes clear that this is a cave full of thousands of Buddha statues.

“This is about a four-hour exposure to get all of this,” Mason said. “That’s part of the charm of this. They’re very magical in their own quiet way.”

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.

Showing now

What: Kenro Izu: “Sacred Places;” various artists: “81 Heads”

Where: University of Maine Museum of Art, 40 Harlow St., Bangor

When: Through July 1; gallery hours, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Admission: $3; free for museum members and UMaine students with Maine Card

Information: 561-3350 or www.umma.umaine.edu