Daily: Progression at Multiple Exposures Gallery

It’s a project with a design so convoluted that few would dare attempt it twice within nine months. But the photographers of Multiple Exposures Gallery are game for another Progressions exhibit, in which 15 members contribute 45 images in sequence, thematically playing off the previous image with either a photograph they’ve already taken or with a new one. The new image may mirror the previous one’s subject matter, composition, or color, but there needs to be some visual or thematic linkage. As with last year’s version of Progressions, windows and chairs are a bit overused as transitional elements (this time around, I’d add clouds to the overused list, despite their loving portrayals throughout the exhibit). The intended connections usually become clear; only a couple of times was the link so obscure that I missed it. But the real test of images in the exhibit isn’t their connection to the preceding and following photographs, but whether they stand out in isolation. Fortunately, many in Progressions do. Notable images include Irina Lawton’s spindly playground structures set against a fire-red sky; Stacy Smith Evans’ gaggle of teenagers on a European street corner; Sandy LeBrun–Evans’ bracingly rough-hewn image of a cafe patron and a figure walking through a passageway in the background; Soomin Ham’s barely visible insect on a striated, translucent surface; Van Pulley’s portrayal of a sand dune that ranges in tone from sepia to inky black; and Alan Sislen’s image of a man alongside a rural road marked by zebra-like shadows, thanks to trees lining the roadway. With Progressions, come for the brainteaser, but prepare for some wide-eyed stops along the way. Progressions runs through July 28 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Saturday: The Last Podcast on the Left at Warner Theatre

Is this what theaters like the Warner were built for? Obviously, the architect of this gorgeous building didn’t foresee podcasting when it was constructed in 1929—the space originally screened silent movies. But watching three dudes chat about topics formerly reserved for dark bars and currently explored in dark corners of the internet actually works on a big stage surrounded by hundreds of like-minded individuals. Unlike some of the other podcasts acts able to sell a thousand tickets in most major markets, the fellas of The Last Podcast on the Left are not brought to you by National Public Radio or DraftKings. They’re also not trying to solve a murder or save democracy or threaten democracy by being bad li’l boys. The LPOTL dudes, comics Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and newest host Ed Larson, are kind of a podcast throwback, funny people exploring a topic—in this case “all things horror” (hence the name playing off Wes Craven’s 1972 directorial debut)—for 90 to 120 minutes. There are jokes, there are fun facts, there is frivolity. Close your eyes and get transported to when podcasts were better, before Spotify and your favorite public radio station helped make the art form a lot more boring. The Last Podcast on the Left starts talking at 8 p.m. on July 13 at Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. livenation.com $49.25. —Brandon Wetherbee

Sunday: Folger Library Pop-Up Book Fair

If you loved the Scholastic Book Fair as a child, fell in love with William Shakespeare’s work in school, and have been meaning to check out the recently reopened Folger Shakespeare Library—or you’re just a well-rounded reader or thespian, this event is for you. This Sunday, the Folger invites D.C. residents into their renovated facilities for a free Pop-Up Book Fair showcasing literary work from the Folger’s 2024–25 season. The upcoming season, titled “Whose Democracy?”, will feature a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, and Twelfth Night, as well as Lauren Gunderson’s A Room in the Castle, which reimagines Hamlet from the women’s narratives. In addition to selling books, the Fair will feature a family story time, poetry reading, and literary giveaways from the Folger and local independent bookstores. Last year, while the Folger building was still undergoing massive renovations, the book fair was hosted at Capitol Hill’s East City Bookshop. This year’s event hopes to welcome the D.C. community back into the reimagined space and show that the research library meets theater has something for everyone. While you’re there, check out the Rita Dove poem carved into the west garden’s marble edge. The book fair starts at 11 a.m. on July 14 at Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St. SE. folger.edu. Free. —Serena Zets 

Wednesday: Pebble to Pearl at the Wharf

The Wharf is one of D.C.’s gems—the sunsets, ambience, and liveliness accompanied by seagulls, waterfront breezes, and the smell of Old Bay from the fish market make it the perfect place to spend the summer. Its free (yes free) summer concert series Rock the Dock adds to the cacophonous sounds of the season. Presented by Pacifico, the concerts take place every Wednesday evening through Aug. 28 and offer a cool reprieve of the heat. Genres range from R&B, jazz, reggae, and go-go to country and pop covers. This week’s act is Pebble to Pearl. The local six-piece are known for playing funky, contagious dance tunes that blend R&B, blues, and soul. Lead vocalist Dari J has been praised for her powerhouse vocals and pianist Araya has been celebrated for his virtuosity. They’re sure to have you shimmying with your Dark and Stormies in hand. (Cantina Bambina is mixing some delicious drinks to make the evening that much sweeter.) Pebble to Pearl play Rock the Dock at 7 p.m. on July 17 at Transit Pier, 970 Wharf St. SW. wharfdc.com. Free. —Simone Goldstone 

Ongoing: Capital Brutalism at the National Building Museum 

The National Building Museum’s Capital Brutalism presents itself almost apologetically: The opening wall statement acknowledges that D.C.’s concrete behemoths are the city’s “most polarizing architectural landmarks,” and at one point the exhibit quotes former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp unflatteringly calling his own agency’s headquarters “10 floors of basement.” In fact, when the exhibit focuses on such buildings as the HUD headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building, Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library, and the Energy Department’s James V. Forrestal Building, it spends almost as much effort discussing innovative proposals to revitalize these alienating edifices as it does on the buildings’ historical context and their current uses. Capital Brutalism presents its topic fairly, noting that in the 1960s and early ’70s, when most of these structures were built, the architectural establishment greeted them with applause. In one clipping shown, Benjamin Forgey, Washington’s leading architecture critic from 1964 to 2006, wrote in 1975, when the headquarters of what is now the Department of Health and Human Services opened, that the building was “several notches better than anything … the federal government has constructed in Washington in recent years.” (Today, this sounds like damning with faint praise, but it didn’t at the time.) Notably, the exhibit spotlights a few praiseworthy examples of the style, each of which, a close reading will indicate, are signaled by the lack of an appended how-do-we-fix-this? proposal. They include the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, with its smooth, circular exterior and rounded interior galleries; Dupont Circle’s wedge-shaped Euram Building, which, to be fair, benefits from its largely non-concrete exterior; and the semicircular concrete vaults of the Washington Metro, which, for all of Metro’s service shortcomings, still looks more attractive than New York’s subway system any day. Perhaps the thread that connects these successes is curves; the lesson for architects is, if you must go brutalist, please junk the concrete box. Capital Brutalism runs through Feb. 17, 2025, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. nbm.org. $7–$10. —Louis Jacobson