The works in Peter Karp’s retrospective at the Studio Gallery tend to fall into three categories—photographs, flat mixed-media assemblages, and three-dimensional box assemblages—and each is relatively successful. Karp’s straight photographs are the most consistently interesting, however, depicting a praying mantis trapped under a fine wire screen, an aerial view of a Northern Virginia cul-de-sac development covered by snow, and a peeling wall in D.C. depicted in eerily unrelenting light—an image that pays homage to the flat depictions of Minor White and Aaron Siskind. Read more >>> The show is on view 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays–Fridays, and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays to Feb. 23 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. Free. (202) 232-8734. studiogallerydc.com. (Louis Jacobson)
EAT THIS
Poste Moderne Brasserie is on a locavore grind, if this promo video is any indication. The Penn Quarter restaurant recently debuted its All-Local Happy Hour featuring foods and beverages from Washington-area purveyors. Brews are by DC Brau, Chocolate City Beer, and Alexandria’s Port City Brewing; for cocktails, try a Green Hat Gin and tonic or a Catoctin Creek rye and ginger. As for the food, a lot of that incorporates local tipples as well, making this a really happy hour. For example, the clams are served with chili-braised kale, DC Brau’s Public ale, bacon, and grilled bread, and the wings are smoked and grilled with a Catoctin Creek Rye and apple butter glaze. Test your locavore limits with a Polyface Farms beef heart, beet, and goat cheese flatbread or a pig ear sandwich. Drink specials run weekdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Happy hour snacks, priced from $4 to $8, are available daily from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Poste Moderne Brasserie, 555 8th St. NW. (202) 783-6060. postebrasserie.com. (May Wildman)
OH AND ALSO
If you haven’t had the chance to see Taffety Punk‘s rousing reinterpretation of Twelfth Night, this week is your last chance. The wild thespians recreate the shipwreck that begins Shakespeare’s comedy about swapped identities and mistaken assumptions. 7:30 p.m. at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St. SE. $10.
Former New York Times Magazine Ethicist Randy Cohen discusses the nature of “being good” and signs copies of his new book, Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything at the D.C. JCC. 7:30 p.m. at the Washington, D.C. JCC, 1529 16th St. NW. $10.
Local indie rockers The Sea Life perform tonight at the Black Cat Backstage with Tan Vampires and Old Abram Brown. 8 p.m. at the Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $10.
Musical comedian Stephen Lynch arrives at the Birchmere for a two-night stand of stories and songs. 7:30 p.m. at the Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. $39.50.
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