Purdy Pitchurs

For those unfortunates without plans to leave town for the holiday weekend, this month's First Thursday open gallery evening should offer a less frenetic chance to enjoy complementary, slightly desiccated cheese cubes and glasses of TJ's finest wine whilst ogling some nifty new art.

A few photography shows we're particularly interested to see, both at 49 Geary:

• Chris Gentile's photos of his own abstract sculptures, "Reincarnation Blues," at the Gregory Lind Gallery

• A group show of moody black and whites by Jerry Burchard, Debbie Fleming Caffery and Linda Foard Robert at the Robert Koch Gallery