The market for luxury purchases like art followed the same curve as much of the economy, and some galleries closed their doors while others relocated. But the plastic cup of opening-night chardonnay doesn’t have to be half-empty. G Fine Art has relocated to the H Street Corridor, joining Conner Contemporary in an area previously known for novelty bars. New galleries, such as the Fridge and Gallery H, opened. Local art-scene booster the Pink Line Project chronicled openings and parties on its snazzy new Web site.There’s much to be hopeful for.

Read her list of the best that galleries had to offer here.

• "An Artist drawn to Foul Play: Koen Vanmechelen's Chicken Art is Nothing to Squawk At."

Monica Hesse's article goes for the obvious pun, and it's a real eye-roller. Adding insult to injury, at the end of the article, she pretends to have tried to extract a quotation from the gallery's resident Jersey Giants. Weak. D

• "Ain't nobody here but us chickens."

Not a pun, but a reference: Baltimore artist and blogger Cara Ober cites a Louis Jordan song. Here, it's sung by some Muppets. B+

• "They, and the article are finger lickin' good."

That's the blog Marlow Maunders on both the exhibit and the Post feature about it. He's probably right on the first point, but we'll never know for sure, as these guys won't be ending up in a KFC Double Down anytime soon. C-

• "The week’s events were launched with a cluck rather than a bang at Monday’s opening."

Huh? Wait a second, Art Newspaper. What does T.S. Eliot have to do with this? Oh, whatever. D

• "And the beak shall inherit the earth."

The Guardian is kinda cheesy, kinda bad, and kinda clever here. Sort of like that KFC Double Down. B-

• "Okay enough about cocks, let’s get to Fixation."

This one's from ReadySetDC, which segued from a description of Conner's show to the FotoWeek exhibit Fixations above it, with this one-liner. Double entendres are made funnier when they unintentionally insult an international artist. Let's just hope that ReadySetDC does not encounter an artist who works with cats. C

Koen VanMechelen loves chickens. Live chickens, stuffed chickens, videos of chickens, paintings made with egg tempera. Saturday night at Conner Contemporary, VanMechelen's "Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (DC)" opens; it'll run to Dec. 31. According to the press release, the Belgian artist is "systematically crossing all breeds of chickens to create a world-mongrel chicken."