Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.

The Russian Eye --If this show were a "safari," Anastasiy Safari would be the annoying guide who never stops talking. Brilliant as several images here are, the California-based photographer who created them spoils many more by attaching meddlesome titles and numbingly obvious wall text, making it difficult for viewers to comprehend or interact with his work independently. More problematically, many textual guidelines ascribe depth and meaning that simply aren't there. Happily, the exceptions together overshadow the rule, combining humor and happenstance into memorable compositions. "The Infernal Smile of Moscow" is a wide, nighttime exposure of a narrow canal or park lined by traffic-filled streets on both sides. Distorted through a fish-eye lens, the scene becomes a giant, red-lipped mouth, grinning dementedly as it emerges from the darkness around it. The Moscow tourism bureau probably won't be using that photo. In another blissfully untitled image, a large dark bird alights on a desert rock, mimicking a line of three similarly-shaped rocky formations behind it. It's almost too perfect: A bird that couldn't bear the asymmetry, and Safari happened to catch it. "Black Sea Oblivion" is considerably more ominous. Safari takes us at dusk to a misty round pool defined by boulders at the shore. Surface-wise, the pool looks much different and more mysterious than the sea itself, which is simply flat and serene. But the spell lasts only so long. At the horizon are two well-lit ships -- signs of civilization intruding on a nearly magical place. Until September 3 at Loganberry Books, 1305 Larchmere Boulevard, Shaker Heights, 216-795-9800, www.loganberrybooks.com. -- Lewis