ART

BORN IN THE U.S.A. The Thomas Erben Gallery mounted the exhibit “Psychic Inheritance” to explore the work of three artists — Glen Fogel, Ryan McCartney, and Andrew Rogers — and their interpretations of American identity. Works include quilted flags and manipulated images of the Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger. Selected works include a still from Mr. Fogel’s video “The Enemy” (2006), above. Through Saturday, October 27, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Thomas Erben Gallery, 526 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-645-8701, free.

FAILURE TO CLOSE The Chelsea Art Museum drew from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection to create the exhibit “The Incomplete,” which is now on view. The works featured in the show depict each artist’s take on closure — or a lack thereof. Artists and their work span from the mid-1980s to today, and include Jeff Koons, Kelli Williams, and Michael Bevilacqua. Selections include Wendell Gladstone’s “Bones of an Idol” (2006). Through Saturday, January 12, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, noon–6 p.m., Thursday, noon–8 p.m., Chelsea Art Museum, 556 W. 22nd St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-255-0719, free.

IDENTITY POLITICS ON PAINT “Midnight’s Daydream” an exhibit at the Studio Museum in Harlem, explores the “the witching hour.” The show highlights the work of the museum’s 2006–07 artists-inresidence, Titus Kaphar, Wardell Milan II, and Demetrius Oliver. In the diptych “Conversation Between Paintings no.3: Descent” (2007), Mr. Kaphar engages historical issues of race in Europe and the New World by juxtaposing and mashing two works: John Baptiste de Medina’s portrait”James Drummond, 2nd Titular Duke of Perth” (c.1700) and Anne-Louis Girodet’s “Jean-Baptiste Balley” (1797), a likeness of the Senegal-born representative of Santo Domingo (now Haiti) in the French Parliament. Through Sunday, October 28, Studio Museum in Harlem, Wednesday–Friday and Sunday, noon–6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., 144 W. 125th St., between Lenox and Seventh avenues, 864-4500, $7 general, $3 seniors and students, free for members and children under age 12.

GEOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE In his latest exhibit of paintings, “Tracts,” artist Lloyd Martin experiments with the geometric interactions of colors and shapes. They “appeal exclusively to our sense of scale and balance. In that sense, they approach the character of music,” critic Maureen Mullarkey wrote of Mr. Martin’s paintings in the October 19, 2006, New York Sun. Through Saturday, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Stephen Haller Gallery, 542 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-741-7777, free.

DANCE

CROUCHING TIGERS A master of the traditional Japanese dance form butoh, Akaji Maro, returns to theJapanSocietywithapairofnew works choreographed by members of his company. Kumotaro Mukai’s “Tiger’s Cave: Butoh Boot Camp,” an all-male piece, has its debut tonight. “Yupiters,” a piece danced by female members of the company and created by Yuko Kobayashi, is performed on Friday and Saturday. Mr. Maro makes a special appearance for all performances. Tonight, 7:30p.m., Friday, and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., the Japan Society, 333 E. 47th St., between First and Second avenues, 212-715-1258, $35 general, $30 members.

FAMILY

BIKES ON PARADE The first annual Kids Art Bike Ride for the Lower East Side takes place on Saturday. To help the children of New York get their bicycles and tricycles parade-ready, the Children’s Museum of the Arts is hosting the Art Bike Workshops. Attendees can make decorations that will transform their wheels into moving works of art for Saturday’s parade. Workshops, tomorrow through Friday, 1–4:30 p.m., Children’s Museum of the Arts, 182 Lafayette St., between Grand and Broome streets, 212-274-0986, $8; parade, Saturday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., Tompkins Square Park, meet at 9th Street and Avenue A, 212-979-2344, free.

DOG PARK PARTY The Central Park Conservancy hosts the My Dog Loves Central Park Country Fair, an afternoon of activities for dogs and their owners. Events include an open casting call for the “Pet Tricks” segment on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and the Best in Park Dog Show — the dog with the best Central Park behavior wins an agility course. Saturday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Central Park, mid-park at 72nd Street, 212-310-6638, between the Band Shell and Sheep Meadow, free.

FLOATING DOWN The Big Apple Splash — a six-mile flotilla for boating amateurs — is part of this year’s “New York Water Fest,” presented by Riverkeeper. An experienced river guide is on every raft, so families can relax and have a boating adventure. Advance registration is required and includes lunch, rafting equipment, and an event T-shirt. Saturday, 12 p.m., Pier 96 Boathouse, Clinton Cove Park, 56th Street and the West Side Highway, 914-478-4546, $100.

MUSIC

ANOTHER NIGHT AT THE OFFICE The Chicago-based quintet Office, a new wave pop band known for wearing business attire and getting crowds dancing, just released “A Night at the Ritz” (Scratchie/New Line Records). The album, recorded this past winter, features new songs, including “If You Don’t Know By Now” and “Suburban Perfume,” as well as popular tracks, including “The Big Bang Jump,” from their 2005 self-released album “Q & A.” Office performs with Earlimart and Louis Logic. Band members include drummer Erica Corniel, and singer Scott Masson. Tonight, 8 p.m., the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., between Leonard and Church streets, 212-319-3132, $15.

IVAN THE GREAT A Czech-born concert pianist, Ivan Moravec, gives his sole New York recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Moravec is featured as part of the museum’s “Piano Forte” series. The program comprises Haydn’s Sonata in D major, Debussy’s “Estampes,” and various works by Chopin, including “Nocturnes in E minor.” Saturday, 8 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd street, 212-570-3949, $45.

READINGS

SHORT DELIGHTS Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story opens with a reading hosted by mystery author Stephen King, featuring stories that were included in the collection “The Best American Short Stories 2007.” Writer Joanna Gleason reads a story by Karen Russell and Judith Ivey reads a story by T.C. Boyle. Mr. King guest-edited parts of this year’s collection and says what he looked for in stories included a “sense of emotional involvement, of flipped-out amazement … like a big hot meteor screaming down from the Kansas sky.” Tonight, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, 212-864-5400, $26 in advance, $30 at the doors, $24 for members.

TALKS

ART AS OURSELVES The School of Visual Arts’s MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department presents a lecture by a contributing editor to “Art in America,” Carter Ratcliff, as he discusses art as a means for preserving and improving civil society. He talks about how modern art sustains various ideas of individuality and history for those who define themselves through art. Tonight, 7 p.m., SVA, Amphitheater, 209 E. 23 St. at Third Avenue, 3rd floor, 212-592-2145, free.

THE DURAND SCHOOL The National Academy Museum presents “The Long March of the American Artist,” a talk given by Annie Cohen-Solal. A cultural historian and the author of “Painting American: The Rise of American Artists, Paris 1867–New York 1948,” Ms. Cohen-Solal, discusses the status of the artist in America at the time of Asher B. Durand’s term as president of the museum and the period immediately following. Durand, a Hudson River School landscape painter, was the second president of the National Academy of Design in 1845, a position he held until his resignation in 1861. Today, 6:30 p.m., National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Ave., between 212-369-4880, reservations required, $5 general, free for students, Friends of the Academy, academicians.

THE SECRET LIVES OF WOMEN The Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents “New York Women,” a panel discussion with authors Pamela Thompson, Deborah Siegel, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Ms. Thatcher Ulrich is the author of the newly published “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History” (Knopf ), an analysis of four 19th-century women, including Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the interplay of race and gender in questions of liberation. The featured panelists discuss the public and private lives of these and other 19th-century women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leading figure of the American women’s rights movement, and an anarchist writer, Emma Goldman, and debate the consequences of living life against the grain. Tomorrow, 6 p.m., Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Museum Shop, 108 Orchard St., betweenDelanceyandBroomestreets, 212-982-8420, free.

THE ‘TRAGIC MULATTO’ The Center for the Humanities at the City University of New York hosts “Representing Cuba: Sujatha Fernandes and Elio Rodríguez in Conversation.” A Cuban artist, Mr. Rodríguez discusses his work with Ms. Fernandes, an assistant professor of sociology at Queens College. The artist frequently addresses issues of racial identity, desire, and sexuality, particularly between black men and women of mixed ethnicity, in his art. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., the Center for the Humanities at CUNY, room 5116, 365 Fifth Ave., between 34th and 35th streets, 212-817-2005, free.

THEATER

TAFFETA, SWEETHEART The 37 Arts theater presents the new off-Broadway musical “Frankenstein,” about the antics of a scientist who creates a monster during an experiment. Bill Fennelly directs the play, and Hunter Foster plays Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Other actors include Christiane Noll and Steve Blanchard. Tonight through an open run, Monday, Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m., Wednesday, 3 and 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m., 37 Arts, 450 W 37th St. at Dyer Avenue, 212-307 4100, $50–$120.

TOURS

COUTURE CONFECTIONS The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology hosts a tour of its ongoing exhibit “Luxury.” The director and chief curator at the museum, Valerie Steele, leads the tour, giving historical background of the term “luxury” and insight into a social construct that is continually redefined in society. The show begins with an exploration of the politics of luxury in the 18th century. Whereas luxury had been traditionally perceived of as morally corrupting, there devel oped a new belief that it could be a positive force contributing to the wealth of nations. The exhibit features more than 150 pieces including couture creations from designers such as Chanel, Poiret Dior, and Balenciaga. Tonight, 6 p.m., exhibit through Saturday November 10, the Museum at FIT 7th Avenue at 27th Street, 212-217 4585, free.

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