CHARLES DESMARAIS’ ART PICK

Unless one lives in the North Bay, it can be difficult to visit every art exhibition in the growing number of ambitious museums and galleries dotted through Wine Country. I plan to make a special effort, however, to see in person a solemn and extensive show at Sonoma State University’s art gallery.

“The Tyranny of Objects,” through Oct. 14, is artist Stephen Whisler’s obsessive meditation in prints, drawings and sculpture on the fearsome formal beauty of bombs of various shapes and sizes. The centerpiece is a full-scale replica, suspended on cables in midair, of what may be the most famous such object of all: Fat Man. Somewhat less deadly than its sibling, Little Boy, but bigger and reportedly 10 times more efficient, the original is reported to have killed 39,000 to 80,000 people after it was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

“The Tyranny of Objects: Recent Work by Stephen Whisler”: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays; noon-4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. Through Oct. 14. Free. University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. 707-6642295. www.sonoma.edu/artgallery

Stephen Whisler The centerpiece of Stephen Whisler’s exhibit is a replica of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.