Photo by akkleis

As you might imagine, Labor Day weekend gets a little slow for the arts, but that’s OK with us, since next week the new arts season begins in earnest. We do have a few tips for you, so keep on reading:

>> Don’t miss Asia After Dark: Come Rock at Peacock Shock tonight at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. For $20 at the door, enjoy drinks, food tastings from local Asian restaurants, dance performances, DJs, film shorts and, of course, all the art in the gallery. Pink Line Project will also be there to host a text message scavenger hunt. Peacock is the theme of the night, so come dressed in your favorite peacock colors. 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.

>> Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, so head to Dupont for a few openings. Hillyer opens Multiplying the Body: Gender Performance Remembered and Reconstructed by Susan Serafin and a full-scale installation Colossus (inspired by the poem of the same name by David C. Ward) by Nekisha Durrett. Enjoy food, drinks and tunes by DJ Fleg from 6 to 9 p.m. $5 suggested donation. Foundry Gallery opens a silent auction to benefit the Duke Ellington School of the Arts from 6 to 8 p.m. Studio Gallery will also have an opening 6 to 8 p.m. Wander around the neighborhood (follow anyone with wine in a little plastic cup) to find more open galleries.

>> Touchstone Gallery will have a closing reception for My Space on 7th on Friday along with a wine tasting courtesy Washington Wine Academy. The opening is usually a packed sweat-box, but we imagine the closing will be much more comfortable. Check it out 6 to 8 p.m.

>> Join the party at Phillips After 5 tonight with food tastings in the cafe and music from a Latin jazz trio from 5 to 8 p.m., gallery talks at 6 and 7 p.m., a discussion at 6:30 p.m. from both Phillips Collection and Hirshhorn curators on the works in the exhibit Paint Made Flesh (the curators will have the same event on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at the Hirshhorn), and lastly, an “Acro-Yoga” demonstration at 6:30 p.m. Cash bar; event is free with regular admission.

>> Next Wednesday, make plans to see Goethe-Institut’s ongoing FotoGalerie series, which this time features Thirteen: A Series of Portraits by Janina Wick. From 6 to 8 p.m. you can attend an opening reception as well as a guided tour by the artist and Kristen Hileman from the Hirshhorn. Free but RSVP to 202-289-1200 ext. 165 or rsvp[at]washington.goethe.org.