Painter and sculpter David Suter’s homespun art at Gallery A

Josephine Haden

In “Attitude,” Josephine Haden shows works in several styles, but the majority of the pieces are acrylic paintings on wood that depict landscapes dotted with people, animals and modes of upscale transportation. “My intention is neither allegorical nor representational,” Haden writes, which may not rule out satirical. The figures in pictures such as “Team Members Only” seem to have wandered out of glossy magazines and seem oblivious to one another or their surroundings. Often rendered in black and white, these escapees from Vogue, GQ and People strike poses in front of full-color deserts or woodlands, with luxury cars parked nearby or jetliners flying overhead. Sometimes, there are skydivers or hot-air balloons. Or peacocks.

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( Courtesy Josephine Haden / ) - Josephine Haden’s “Surprise” (acrylic on wood) benefits from its limited cast of characters.

Disconnection seems to be the point, but the lack of engagement is a compositional drawback. Some of these paintings just don’t hold together well, even with the unifying element of visible wood-grain beneath the backdrops’ watery hues. One of the most striking pictures, “Surprise,” is a smaller one that portrays just a boy and a bird; it benefits from its limited cast of characters. Also potent are Haden’s works on paper, more loosely painted and generally in black, white and a single accent color. Vogue and GQ will never admit it, but sometimes less is indeed more.

Michelle Lisa Herman

As most forms of communication move to the Web, will galleries become obsolete? Michelle Lisa Herman’s “Inter-Net,” although impeccably high-tech, argues otherwise. The three pieces in this small show, part of the Washington Project for the Arts’ “Coup d’Espace” series, are site-specific. One even makes surveillance technology feel homey by supplying a window frame for a video monitor. Although not facing the street, “Virtual Window” uses a camera to present a real-time view of Massachusetts Avenue in front of the building.

Embassy Row isn’t exactly Times Square, but “Virtual Window’s” random possibilities trump those of “Social Network,” a system of speaker pods and motion detectors that chirps “I’m here. Are you there?” in 11 voices, depending on where people amble in the room. More diverse yet also more limited is “Love Letters (Lange Is a Virus),” which performs William S. Burroughs-style cutups on text from e-mail spam. The babble — “love letters written in a secret language,” according to Herman — is audible only through a black desk telephone that sits on a small table. Spam is everywhere you don’t want it to be, but this particular hypertext experience is available via just one old-style phone in just one non-virtual space.

Jenkins is a freelance writer.

David Suter: Outside the Box

on view through Dec. 31 at Gallery A, 2106 R St. NW; 202-667-2599; www.alexgalleries.com .

Mystify: Photographs by Alexander Vasiljev

on view through Nov. 30 at Watergate Gallery, 2552 Virginia Ave. NW; 202-338-4488; www.watergategalleryframedesign.com .

Josephine Haden: Attitude

on view through Dec. 8 at Barry Gallery, Marymount University, 4728 N. 26th St., Arlington; 703-284-1561; www.josephinehaden.com .

Inter-Net: Michelle Lisa Herman

on view through Nov. 23 at the Washington Project for the Arts, 2023 Massachusetts Ave. NW; 202-234-7103; www.wpadc.org .