This weekend’s art openings remind me of the lost art of handwriting. Letters, mail, notes and the like rarely appear amidst text messages and self-portrait messages online (all the selfies). Sugarlift’s “Textpectations” reveals contrasts on how we’re falling in love today, through texting and Tindering, with how romance used to be. The artists at The Parlour Bushwick use symbols of the human spirit to reveal a human presence in their works – some even handwritten over the canvas – in “The Hand that Creates the I.” Hints of informational text appear in ODETTA’s “Kiosk” and in “Dress Shop Quarterly,” and “NO DICE (I)” at Kimberly-Klark explores new textual possibilities mixing with mystery and the imaginary.

#1  Arnold Mesches “75 Years of Works on Paper” @ Life on Mars Gallery (FRI 6-9 PM)

56 Bogart Street

Described as “an old hand” Arnold Mesches – at age 92 – has been “at it” long enough to share with us “75 Years of Works on Paper” opening Friday night at Life on Mars Gallery (from Robert Storr from Mesches’ catalogue raisonné, Arnold Mesches: A Life’s Work). “75 Years” shares a carefully curated survey of 45 drawings from a collection of over 5,000 pieces, including a drawing of the artist’s father – done at age 17, and some of his most recent works from this year.