Current Art Shows

Keepsake: Working with ordinary objects, Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova seduces the viewer into places that are at once eerily familiar yet ineluctably foreign. He has a disconcerting way of revealing the hidden splendor of the mundane, playing deftly with nostalgia and identity, elaborating conceptual memories that bespeak a culture of reinvention, of banal planes of reflection. Home (2004), an architectural rendering of his parents' zero-lot-line house in suburban Kendall, is a clever example of Rodriguez-Casanova's approach to explorations of self, a kind of backyard archaeologist. This solo show provides the Cuban-born, Miami-based artist a breakout opportunity on the tail of his recent group shows at the Annina Nosei and White Box galleries in New York, and at the Miami Art Museum. -- Carlos Suarez de Jesus Through January 3. Leonard Tachmes Gallery, 817 NE 125th St., North Miami; 305-895-1030.

Miami Now: Don't miss this megashow curated by Charo Oquet and David Vardi. It features the pluralistic premise of "pointing out the many discourses in visual culture surrounding us." The work is consistently good throughout. Especially enjoyable are Nestor Arenas's insect stills, Slapdown! the performance troupe, Ray Azcuy's George Washington loveseat assemblages, Raimundo Travieso's PC-generated drawings, Nereida García Ferraz's colorful and surreal visions, Nelson Gutierrez's fashion vitrines, Daniel Forda's gun-sculptures, Jacqueline Lipsky's battered-doll vistas, Tom Schmitt's exquisite Op works and Edward Bob's music. Don't miss the third floor with Hervé Di Rosa's remarkable sculptures and paintings along with Oquet's altars. It's a Miami art feast and it comes with a catalogue. --Alfredo Triff Through January 5, World Arts Building, 2214 N. Miami Ave.; 305-303-8852.

fotofija: Can a movie still photo become a work of art even if it's "twice removed from reality," as Plato would've said? Never mind. Check out José Iraola's show of legendary and not-so-famous movie stills for an answer. This artist's appropriation (a legitimate tool since Duchamp and later Warhol) takes fine-tuning and knowledge of art in order to come up with a humorous commentary on Latin-American cultural norms. Iraola reveals new and surprising details about John Huston's Asphalt Jungle and Gerd Oswald's Crimes of Passion, but equally enjoyable are his TV stills of Latin favorites such as Sábado Gigante, bordering (of course) on kitsch. -- Alfredo Triff Through December 27 at Alonso Art, 200 SW 30 Rd., 305-854-1010.