Stars, Subverted

Harry Potter is out of the closet and on view at Spinello Gallery in “Thank You Come Again,” Hackworth Ashley’s solo debut. Opening tonight at 7:00, the Tennessee native’s exhibit features a controversial series of paintings that landed him in hot water at the Savannah College of Art and Design…

First of the Season

Wynwood’s first art crawl of 2007 busts out tonight with a squall at Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, featuring Vicenta Casañ’s “miami:tropicaldepression” and Erica Magrey’s “Troubadour.” Casañ continues her manipulation of the Magic City’s skyline, obliterating familiar landmarks to create a sense of melancholy and unease. Her new series of photographs…

Art Bomb

Leonard Tachmes Gallery “Fregona” by Gismo: Best of the worst Following in the footsteps of an art fair giant like Papa Basel can’t be easy, but judging by Art Miami’s shoddy spectacle this past weekend it seemed as though its organizers didn’t even try to compete. The first thing to…

Scents and Sensibility

A multimillion-euro adaptation of a best-selling German novel, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer relates the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), born in eighteenth-century Paris with a uniquely puissant sense of smell. He begins life as an orphan, is sold into servitude to a brutal tanner, but in Toucan…

Now Playing

In a time of darkness, under the evil reign of John Malkovich — who sits upon a throne in a different sound stage from all the other cast members — a hero shall rise. But lo, there will be little rejoicing, for this farmer turned dragon-rider named Eragon is but…

Filthy Farce

It’s asinine to think any human being can truly know the heart or mind of any other, but I’ve got a theory about David Mamet anyway: He thinks all human beings are deaf-mutes. At first glance, Romance appears to be a play about peace; either that or it’s about nothing…

Potsdamer Powerhouse

A monumental four-panel C-print by Frank Thiel at the Bass Museum of Art captures the rebirth of an uber-hip, anything-goes Berlin following the collapse of the Wall in 1989. The German photographer’s Stadt 7/12, 1999 documents the sprawling construction zone of Potsdamer Platz, a major architectural program master-planned by Italian…

Art Capsules

Oscar Bony, Leon Ferrari, and Tracey Snelling: Perfumed by the scent of fresh paint and sparkling floors, Pan American’s newly hatched Wynwood digs open with the muscular work of Argentine conceptualists Leon Ferrari and Oscar Bony in the capacious main space and multimedia pieces by California’s Tracey Snelling in the…

Weird and Wonderful

Robert Wilonsky and Jordan Harper recap their top DVDs of 2006: Eraserhead (Absurda/Subversive) — Finally available on DVD, David Lynch’s debut film is as captivating and frustrating as it ever was. The print looks great in its own weird way, and the feature-length doc shows Lynch speaking more clearly about…

A Legendary Outing

Despite Link’s green tunic and Peter Pan hat, he remains Nintendo’s most respected bad-ass. In the long-awaited The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii, the elf hero begins yet another quest to save the world with his trademark bombs and boomerangs. Minor déjà vu aside, Twilight Princess becomes…

The Red String Club

Demi does it. Firecrotch was a follower. Even the Material Girl meditates. And now you can too, because celebrities are really just like us! Remember Kabbalah, that oh-so-trendy religion that swept the nation with chic little red bracelets and guarantees of emotional satisfaction for famous people and wannabes? Now the…

Cubanos on Film

Those eager to catch a whiff of the cinematic funk and experimental video developing in Cuba can thank Centro Cultural Español for organizing a series of programs beginning tonight at 7:00 and featuring the quirky work of more than 30 artist/auteurs. Curated by Mailyn Machado, “Play: Video Cubano” spools six…

Float On and Suffer Well

Buddhism transcends religion. It can, and really must, be pursued individually. Anyone can benefit from a glancing consideration of the Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering; (2) Suffering is caused by an ignorant attachment to things and ideas, all of which are transient; (3) Suffering can be ended with…

Let’s Do Brunch!

For a truly ethereal Sunday brunch experience, Yage Bay Club’s Boogie Brunch is the spot. You can sprawl on plush cabana beds while gazing at the Miami skyline (try to ignore all the scaffolding) from the Tiki Hut lounge as you sip five-dollar mimosas and munch on delicious breakfast treats…

Education = Tolerance

Florida was brought into statehood by David Levy Yulee, a Jew, but its history is scattered with periods of anti-Semitism. During the early Twentieth Century, it was rare to find Jewish families north of Miami Beach’s Fifth Street. Jews were banned during Spanish control in the Eighteenth Century (way before…

Hit the Switch

In all the hubbub of local nightlife, the death of weekly parties comes quickly and often. That’s why Saturday-night hot spot Switch deserves a pat on the back. Tonight is the popular party’s one-year anniversary celebration, and that’s quite a feat, considering clubland years pass just as quickly as dog…

Can You Pass the Test?

Questions: (1) Why does it make sense that so many Cubans have found a home in South Florida and that Spanish is commonly spoken throughout Greater Miami? (2) Miami isn’t even the largest city in Florida (Jacksonville is), but the metropolitan area has a population of more than five million…

Everyone Likes to Party

Miami is a staple party city for the gay community. Men who love men and women who love women flock to famously alternative-lifestyle-friendly South Beach. But just like the venues popping up in downtown and Wynwood, an unassuming contender is luring gay patrons to the mainland with promises of an…

Buy More Art

Teeth-chattering Northerners might be shopping in a 30-degree chill, but ArtCenter/South Florida is decked out for a summer bazaar. Today from 2:00 to 9:00 outside ArtCenter’s 800 Lincoln Rd. gallery, “ArtShop: Pop In, Pop Up, Pop Buy!” offers art lovers and fashionistas an alfresco shopping experience celebrating the seventeenth-annual Art…

Be More Flexible

Do you remember that squirrelly kid in your third-grade class who would always do backflips and crazy tricks on the monkey bars? Well, he grew up and joined a circus, of sorts. The flipping fantastic performers of Wise Fool New Mexico are in town for three nights to entertain you…

An Art Fair to Remember

Those bemoaning Art Miami’s relevance in the long shadow of Basel, take heed. The Swiss might have recently jerked the city upside down, but Art Miami’s organizers promise to turn heads with the seventeenth edition of the South Florida cultural staple, which has stormed back with pizzazz. “Many discoveries will…

Darkness Calls

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become more artistically sound, then Asser Saint-Val is a name you should learn and learn well. A Miami resident and Haiti native, Saint-Val has adopted an abstract figurative style to approach a topic that even in the 21st century is still…