Michael Stillion, artist, Contemporary Arts Center preparator and curator of the center’s Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? (a beautiful exhibition that sets the case for painting as a viable medium for contemporary artists, on view until Sept. 14) will have a solo exhibition of his paintings, drawings, collages and sculpture at Phyllis Weston Gallery. Investigating ways of portraying the figure that don’t involve any easy identification with the details of a face, Stillion’s figures are often cloaked from head to toe. The proverbial “ghost” in Stillion’s machine might be the search for influence or meaning in his art making but, perhaps as in all good art, Stillion denies the viewer any easy narrative.