[ visual art ]

It's been five years since she closed her beloved little Spector Gallery — home base of some of Philly's finest (and most fun) visual artists, including Jim Houser, Ben Woodward, Randall Sellers and Rebecca Westcott — and Shelley Spector's picked up a few tricks. Most recently, she's been the artist-in-residence at NextFab Studio, University City's high-tech "gym for innovators" with all those amazing 3-D printers and such. What caught Spector's eye were the cutting-edge laser tools and digital sewing machines, equipment she trained on to push the boundaries of her already daring multimedia artwork. The product of her labor is "Dreck Groove," a new exhibition at Esther Klein Gallery inspired by this past summer's myriad environmental quagmires like Hurricane Irene and the Fukushima meltdown. The pieces are an unholy meshing of the slick and the gritty, making clever use of cereal boxes, old clothes and other reclaimed products. Like Spector, they were primed for bold reinvention.

Opening reception Fri., Feb. 17, through March 30, 5-8 p.m., free, Esther Klein Gallery, 3600 Market St., breadboardphilly.org.