Casts of body parts in Duane Hanson’s “Ghosts” exhibit.

Duane Hanson might be the most famous artist to have lived and worked in South Florida, and who may be more familiar elsewhere. His eerily life-like figures and busts have been shown in museums across the world, and reside in collections such as the Saatchi Gallery, the Whitney, the Smithsonian and numerous others.

But Hanson, who died in 1996, is not really unknown in these parts either. People flying through the Ft. Lauderdale airport will have done double-takes of the down-cast vendor sitting in his little shop; despite your best efforts, you will not get him to answer or move – he is a permanent installation. Hanson always used real models as his subjects, such as the famous Football Player, based on fellow South Florida sculptor (and former football player) Robert Thiele that sits at the Lowe Museum.

That connection is a nice segue to the exhibit “Ghosts” at Bridge Red, a gallery that is co-directed by Thiele. While Hanson’s later works were often of downtrodden or lonely souls, his earlier works from the 1960s were much more violent. Made from fiberglass and painted in hyper-realistic detail, they depicted people in motorcycle crashes, race riots and a backroom abortion operation. Some of the casts of the body parts are now showing here (including the first cast for the head of the Football Player) for the first time in this solo exhibit, opening a window to the artist’s process.

Work in Carol Brown’s “Off(spring)” exhibit.

Down Under the Bridge, an artist very much alive who also works with real and realistic subjects, Carol Brown, has her own solo outing. In “Off(spring),” she combines painting, photography and video to tackle the tricky imagery of babies. They are the ultimate in cute – overly cute – representing a time of pure innocence. But the soon-to-be-lost innocence is also a great burden to those bringing them up – what kind of world will they have to struggle through, and how can an adult ease the journey? Babies can bring out much deeper emotions than simply cuddly.

Before the burden of holidays and Art Basel, make sure to check these out.

“Ghosts” and “Off(spring)” open on Sunday night Nov. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. and runs through Jan. 4 at Bridge Red Studios/Under the Bridge, 12425 NE 13th Ave., North Miami; 305-978-4856.