[ visual art ]

There's something about the descriptor "twee" that seems to welcome detractors. Haters will prattle on about how it's just so sickly sweet and then knock its perceived lack of ambition. Granted, this debate is mostly a matter of taste, but if these cold-hearted hepcats want nothing to do with a return to playful innocence where jangly, lo-fi guitars and cooing vocals provide the soundtrack, then so be it. For everyone else, there's "Twee Abstraction," the latest group exhibition from Tiger Strikes Asteroid. Alex Paik curates and exhibits as he and eight others (including Andrew Masullo, who was just tapped to show at the 2012 Whitney Biennial) "take the mentality of early twee-pop and apply it." Primarily using fragile materials such as found wood, wire, fabric and folded paper, the exhibition isn't so much in-your-face as it is please-look-at-this, for it was made with care.

Through Jan. 29, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, 319A N. 11th St., Suite 2H, tigerstrikesasteroid.com.