“New Vibrations For An Old Galaxy” by Kerry Ware at Edge Zones.

The two rooms in the spacious building on North Miami Avenue that houses Edge Zones Projects this month is just right for the large-scale paintings that are hanging there for “Clean Dressed, Dirty Mouth,” featuring seven painters and curated by David Marsh.

But the site-specific one, painted directly onto a makeshift wall, lords over the rest. Kerry Ware’s “New Vibrations For An Old Galaxy” really is a mini universe. The abstract painter mixes brush strokes with materials, subtle and bright coloring, to create this galaxy that, while not figurative, still seems to swirl with planets and coast lines and clouds; the small colored dots that punctuate it also leave a cartography impression, as though this galaxy is also being mapped out. There are other solid paintings in this show, but Ware’s is singular. He’s very good at what he does, and it always nice to see his canvases in town, as he shows too rarely.

Carlos Fragoso.

Mark-marking of a very different kind come from the hand of Carlos Fragoso at his solo show at the Carol Jazzar Gallery. These are eerie, mystical, intense works of distorted or contorted human and animal figures (some a combination of both). Of the five works here, several are collaged onto papyrus paper, with dark black and brown color schemes. Others are painted on canvas with strange violet and rose-colored backgrounds — those colors don’t calm in this case. The Brazilian-born artist who now makes New York home also adds textural elements, such as a brick-type grid to create what is described as his “fable-like narratives.” These are evocative images from a mysterious world.

“Clean Dressed, Dirty Mouth” runs through February, with special events throughout the month; this Thursday night is a screening of the art doc “Pearls on the Ocean Floor” by Robert Andanto at 7 p.m. Edge Zones Projects is located at 3940 N. Miami Ave., Miami; www.edgezones.org. Carlos Fragoso runs Thursday through Sunday through Feb. 26 at the Carol Jazzar Gallery, 158 N.W. 91st St., Miami; www.cjazzart.com.