In the Galleries - Belinda Lee: Inside Out/Outside In CLOSES February 26 at COCA

Dailiness confronts the apocalyptic and bizarre in a series of intimate paintings and drawings by Washington University instructor Belinda Lee. A rash of chartreuse lighting in a lavender sky is shot through with a small, poised diver. The Tower of Babel emerges in the distance, as a suited businesses traveler walks briskly past. A figure reclines on bare grass, perhaps oblivious to the looming nuclear cooling towers that punctuate the horizon. Fashioned from thin washes of eerie but muted hues — with a particular emphasis on yellow and its more alien variations — the paintings possess a diaphanous translucence similar to that of water color. Despite the bald juxtapositions and a twilight palette that further heightens the sense of menace, the images never exceed the limits of portent. It's like stumbling across a relative's old photo album, filled with unwitting revelations of a destiny that had yet to transpire. Through February 26 at the Center for Creative Arts (COCA), 524 Trinity Avenue, University City; 725-6555 or www.cocastl.org. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

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