Galleries

· In the wrong artist's hands, graffiti-style gesture -- I'm seeing a lot of it these days -- devolves into mannered motif, a 21st-century rococo. Local talent Kelly Towles skirts the pitfall, just barely, by layering street-inspired strokes in engaging pigment prints that mingle photography, animation and graffiti. Also on view in this four-person print show: Donald Sultan's rich, sepia-toned smoke rings; Victor Schrager's drowsy pictures of books; and Robert Longo's photos of his friends performing epileptic seizures on a Manhattan rooftop -- images the artist used to make his iconic early '80s "Men in the Cities" series.

Adamson Editions at Adamson Gallery, 1515 14th St. NW, Tuesday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday noon-5 p.m., 202-232-0707, to April 29;http://www.adamsongallery.com.

Even if It's Not Black & White . . .

· Surely it's a coincidence that New York City-based artist Jackie Battenfield's Asian-inspired paintings connote this city's April obsessions: pandamania and blossomonium. If you're a District resident like me, Battenfield's bamboo leaves silhouetted against fields of iridescent color will spur daydreams of Butterstick curled up in a tree. Sorry to say this, Ms. Battenfield, but even your most elegant juxtapositions of color and texture can't get my mind off that fur ball.

Jackie Battenfield at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., 202-338-5180, to May 13;http://www.addisonripleyfineart.com.

The Perils of 'Pilgrim'

· I regret to report that almost all of the six solo shows filling Arlington Arts Center are underwhelming. One may prove worth the trek: Brooke Rogers's scratchboard drawings are highly detailed chronicles of "Pilgrim," a recurring character with a curious look: S/he amounts to a pair of bulging eyeballs and a bald head peeking out from a body that's wrapped, mummylike, to an army stretcher. In a series of ink drawings that encircle small-scale, Trajanlike columns, her Pilgrim connotes anxiety, helplessness and the Simpsons.

"Spring Solos 2006," at Arlington Arts Center, 3550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 703-248-6800, to June 3;http://www.arlingtonartscenter.org.

Brandon Morse's Code of Blip

· That Brandon Morse titled one of his videos "Nothing Much Happens" acknowledges the facts of the artist's spare solo show at Conner: Black-and-white, computer-generated images pour across video screens as a soundtrack of attenuated electronica wafts through the darkened gallery. In "run to ground," tiny blips make their way across five notebook-size video screens as if mimicking the movement of migratory birds. Morse says his computer code illustrates chaos and disintegration, but his works maintain a cool veneer.

Brandon Morse at Conner Contemporary, 1730 Connecticut Ave. NW, Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 202-588-8750, to April 29;http://www.connercontemporary.com.

A Small Splash in a New Pond

· Gallery-goers, be warned: Bethesda's user-unfriendly street-numbering system makes finding Heineman Myers Contemporary Art, the latest addition to the suburb's gallery district, tough. (It's off a narrow plaza in a shopping enclave numbered 4800 Hampden Lane.) First up: a solo show of black-and-white photography by Maryland Institute College of Art professor Connie Imboden, who shoots nudes underwater to exploit the funhouse distortions of surface reflection. Such easy surrealism isn't likely to make waves beyond the gallery's Zip code.

Connie Imboden at Heineman Myers Contemporary Art, 4728 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, Tuesday-Saturday noon-6 p.m., 301-951-7900, to May 13;http://www.heinemanmyers.com.

Disturbing Views, Tiny and Vast

· "Hickory Dickory Death." That Agatha Christie title could well describe the mix of childhood sweetness and coldblooded murder in Corinne May Botz's beguiling pictures of dollhouse-size dioramas reconstructing crime scenes using miniature figures and furniture. Those dioramas, now in the care of Baltimore's Medical Examiner's Office, were once a tool for training criminologists. Also on view, Anne Rowland's large-scale landscape photos capturing soon-to-disappear rural tracts. Local government plat reference numbers, penned in a tight cursive on her picture's surfaces, indict suburban subdivisions to come.

Anne Rowland and Corinne May Botz, at Hemphill Fine Arts, 1515 14th St. NW, Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 202-234-5601, to April 22;http://www.hemphillfinearts.com.

Disturbing Views, Tiny and Vast

· "Hickory Dickory Death." That Agatha Christie title could well describe the mix of childhood sweetness and coldblooded murder in Corinne May Botz's beguiling pictures of dollhouse-size dioramas reconstructing crime scenes using miniature figures and furniture. Those dioramas, now in the care of Baltimore's Medical Examiner's Office, were once a tool for training criminologists. Also on view, Anne Rowland's large-scale landscape photos capturing soon-to-disappear rural tracts. Local government plat reference numbers, penned in a tight cursive on her picture's surfaces, indict suburban subdivisions to come.

Anne Rowland and Corinne May Botz, at Hemphill Fine Arts, 1515 14th St. NW, Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 202-234-5601, to April 22;http://www.hemphillfinearts.com.