Arts & Culture

Miami art this week: Freedom Tower hangs world-leader punching bags

Henri Cartier-Bresson described photography as the “simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.” And so he gave us snapshots of life’s fleeting prefect compositions: figures jumping over puddles and shadows kissing other shadows. On the other extreme is photographer William Wegman who deliberately…

Funkshion Fashion Week Miami Beach, which starts this Wednesday, is sure to draw out a certain Miami breed. These gals look for any reason to squirm their way into their tightest, lowest plunging neckline dress and their tallest, strappiest heels. They’ll wander around with clutch and drink in hand, feeding…

As suggested by its title, Allen Ginsberg’s game-changing poem “Howl” is essentially performative — and so is Howl, the Sundance-opening quasi-biographical movie by Oscar-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Howl the movie — which, in addition to touching on Ginsberg’s early life (and successful coming-out), dramatizes the poem’s obscenity…

As suggested by its title, Allen Ginsberg’s game-changing poem “Howl” is essentially performative — and so is Howl, the Sundance-opening quasi-biographical movie by Oscar-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Howl the movie — which, in addition to touching on Ginsberg’s early life (and successful coming-out), dramatizes the poem’s obscenity…

As suggested by its title, Allen Ginsberg’s game-changing poem “Howl” is essentially performative — and so is Howl, the Sundance-opening quasi-biographical movie by Oscar-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Howl the movie — which, in addition to touching on Ginsberg’s early life (and successful coming-out), dramatizes the poem’s obscenity…

Question: What’s free, black and white, and has awesome written all over it? Answer: The Super Scary Movie Night, an evening of retro horror flicks and surreal soundtracks. Tomorrow night, artist Kevin Arrow and Barron Sherer will screen freaky Super 8 mm films — some from their own stash and…

When Sarah Jones wrote her one-woman show, Bridge and Tunnel, she made the New York City subway her mobile study hall. There, she analyzed the characters who travel into Manhattan from the diverse immigrant communities of surrounding outer boroughs. They are often nicknamed (both lovingly and disparagingly) the “bridge and…

The tawdry image of a frumpy, nude housewife posing next to a dildo on view at a South Dade gallery could easily have been titled, “Is That a Cell Phone in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?” The photograph is one of about 200 pictures on…

The horrors of war, totalitarian governments, and political dissent are the minefield of expression in this multimedia exhibit where more than a dozen artists tackle repressive regimes through imagery aspiring to a subversive wallop. Cuban artist Antuan Riguez’s installation, Left, Right, features rows of heavy red punching bags hanging from…

One Miami Heat player got lost in all the hoopla surrounding the team this past summer. A couple of years ago, he was seen as hope for the future of the team. But that dream was extinguished faster than the joints he smoked. We’re talking about Michael Beasley, the Heat’s…

Sesame Street couldn’t handle mixing kids’ programming with Katy Perry cleavage, but Yo Gabba Gabba! gets it right every time. Perhaps it’s because one of the show’s creators, Christian Jacobs, is MC Bat Commander of Cali synth-pop band the Aquabats. After becoming a father, he and a friend created Gabba,…

Your only friend growing up was a drooling Saint Bernard named Cool Joe. He was an OK pal — that is, until he was bitten by a rabid bat and went insane in the membrane. He launched an ambush, killing your pa and leaving you stranded in an ’81 Ford…

Most of us will never know what it is to be held captive as minutes turn to hours, days turn to weeks, and eventually months turn to years. Ingrid Betancourt knows that feeling well. The former Colombian presidential candidate was trapped in a vast jungle for six and a half…

There are rampant rumors that the creators of Glee are considering remaking the cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now there’s a scary thought. Isn’t it enough of an affront to Frank N. Furter tranny fans everywhere that the teen musical sitcom already had a Rocky Horror episode? What’s…

If you’ve seen Steven Tyler from Aerosmith anytime in the past decade, you’ve surely thought, That man was dashing when he was young, but now his face could scare a blind woman. Hold that thought. It could earn you thousands of dollars. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will…

The biggest story heading into the Miami Heat preseason was the realization of finally seeing the Three Kings on the court, in action, in Heat uniforms, obliterating the competition. Then, three minutes into their debut as a team, Dwyane Wade strained his hamstring and was forced to sit out the…

You know those sudden bursts of creativity inspired by one too many tequila funnels and 151 chasers? Suddenly, you were born to dance like Michael Jackson and can hit notes that Mariah Carey never knew existed. But if you’re of the inebriated Picasso variety, more excited over a Sharpie than…

West Perrine is rough. From the Circle Plaza Projects to the Dada 5000 fight compound, choppers, yard boys, and black flags rule. The population, locked in a vise-grip of poverty, drugs, and violence, begs for salvation. Every Sunday, on SW 168th Street, the scream of amplified steel rings out from…

Remember the good ole days of mixed martial arts? When patrons flocked to shows for the honest spectacle, brutality, and pain dished out as in some Jean-Claude Van Damme film? Truth is, MMA has been around a lot longer than the early ’90s. In fact, there were bouts between boxers…

Maybe it’s just us, but whenever we visit historic mansions, we imagine the place full of aristocratic ghosts that come out at night, eager to exact revenge on the fanny-pack-wearing tourists who stomp the grounds during the day. South Florida’s Renaissance-style landmark, Vizcaya, seems perfect for such a fantasy. It’s…