Ellen Forney’s black-and-white hands on red backgrounds are big and fucking. The largest paintings are shorthand for sex acts (a fist gripping an index finger); the smaller ones are individual portraits of friends’ hands miming actual sexual acts. What a difference there is between the broad comedic shorthand and the surprisingly quiet, intimate gestures. We stand in the gap, a little embarrassed, a little turned on. (Liberty, 517 15th Ave E, 323-9898. 4 pm—2 am, free, 21+.)

Jen Graves (The Stranger’s former arts critic) mostly writes about things you approach with your eyeballs. But she’s also a history nerd interested in anything that needs more talking about, from male...