Clear your calendar because the gallery season opens with a bang this weekend. Ditch work early tomorrow, meet your cohorts for a quick drink (what, you don’t pre-game for gallery receptions?) and head to the closest art house at six sharp. Beer and wine abound at these showpiece sacella, so bring a date (or find one there!) and up your culture quotient a few notches. If you’ve never been to a gallery before, well, why not? They’re free, and we can help you pick a few shows to catch. But sneak into your boss’ office and use that couch to rest up come Monday, because we’re going to do it all again next weekend.

Friday

>>Flashpoint gives the finger to the folks who destroyed their last, delicate exhibit with four enormous metal sculptures by Evan Reed that will mock all attempts at annihilation by inebriated visitors. Look for a review from us tomorrow, before you hit up the opening. 6 to 8 p.m.

>>David FeBland’s paintings in collideAscope, at the Fraser Gallery, look like a cross between torn pages from a flipbook and New Yorker cartoons gone wrong. Check it out, if only for the “stalking female mastodons.” 6 to 9 p.m.

>>John Wayne vs. Jet Li? The Arlington Arts Center brings us REMIX, an exhibit where East meets West in the form of ninety pieces of art, from paintings to ceramics to installations. Even better, the Center is just one short block from the Virginia Square metro stop. 6 to 9 p.m.

>>If you still cuddle with your teddy every night, you probably won’t appreciate Amy Kaplan’s mummified stuffed animals (pictured) at the DCAC. Space of Change features Kaplan and three other artists who try to capture transformative moments. With Margaret Boozer as one of the curators, it’s sure to be worth a visit. 7 to 9 p.m.