"Approach them carefully, they're very aggressive." No, it wasn't a cage of tarantulas, this was an art gallery and the young assistant gallerist was just offering a bit of practical advice. New Orleans photographer Mark Glaviano's stark color photographs of youthful men and women suspended from hooks oozing little rivulets of blood, are indeed aggressive, literally lending a whole new level of gravitas to body piercing. Like much of the “modern primitives” movement, this is patterned on ancient rituals, and while the process is said to require practice and preparation, a lot of what we see in this Pain Tribe series looks colorfully chaotic. Amore, pictured, is emblematic, as troll-like figures hoist a gagged guy with a mohawk in a dramatic tableau like something from a punkster production of Satyricon. Similar scenes abound along with occasional moments of levity as nubile babes with buzz cuts coquettishly cut up with riding crops. Hey, girls just wanna have fun. Glaviano's Modern Ritual photos take us to a netherworld where anthropology meets pain at its most rapturous, as the spirits of the tribal past return with a vengeance.

Modern Ritual: Photographs by Mark Glaviano, Through May 12, Coup d' oeil Art Consortium, 2033 Magazine St., 722-0876; www.coupdoeilartconsortium.com;
The Sleeping Water: Video and Mixed Media Works by Ken Matsubara, Through May 19, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400A Julia St., 522-5471; www.jonathanferraragallery.com
The Sleeping Water: Video and Mixed Media Works by Ken Matsubara, Through May 19, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400A Julia St., 522-5471; www.jonathanferraragallery.com