Cara Cole, “Brutal Instincts.” For me, this was the memorable image from the last First Friday, its meanings and graphic verve making mincemeat of everything else that night. Of course, it’d be easy to dismiss “Brutal Instincts” as a simple job of pitting the placid against the violent. But keep looking. It’s about time, as I see it, at least at first. Look at the top part: Because it’s sky (which is infinite) and in nuanced black and white (which we’ve learned to see as signifying timelessness), it contrasts jarringly with the bloody canine jaw, a reminder of the brutally abbreviated term of fleshly life. So, you know: life is short, but time goes on—that whole thing. Yet, once you think of the lower image in terms of flesh, you must consider the upper one in terms of spirit—the implication of that vast sky—and so you double back: Is it about time or spirituality? If nothing else, that placid-vs.-violent stuff is done strongly enough to hold your eye as you puzzle it out. (At Dust Gallery, 1221 S. Main St., through April 22.)