SAT 9/20
Mario Benjamin at the MoCA
Japan gets the spotlight
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Listen above the din of trendy conversation and obnoxious club jams, push your way through the throngs of silk shirts, and get thee to Dada. Every Saturday for the past two months, this cozy little bar in the heart of Delray Beach has played host to Popscene, the brainchild of Jonathan Lenin, a.k.a. DJ Mana. "I always envisioned Dada turning into a club after 10 p.m.," Lenin says. "I asked the owner of Dada if I could take over Saturday nights with pop bands and indie music. He was very open to this, and Popscene was born. I chose Dada because it's like stepping out of Florida and into a place more like San Francisco. I wanted to bring that vibe to Palm Beach and give people who didn't want to drive to Miami a place to hang out." In the past two months, acts such as Billy Boloby and the Brite Side have played, and there was even a Poptopia (the monthly concert series founded by Whirlaway drummer Steve Copeletti) versus Popscene night. Get your weekly dose of indie, soul, and new wave medicine at Dada, 52 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Call 561-330-3232, or visit www.popscenefla.com. -- Audra SchroederTHU 9/18Haitian, but Is It Art?
Mario Benjamin is a native son of Port au Prince, a city best-known for near-starvation-level poverty and politically motivated massacres. They say true art is inspired by tragedy, so it's not surprising that Benjamin is an artist -- one of the most celebrated Haitian artists of his generation, in fact. His latest installation is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Joan Lehman Bldg., 770 NE 125th St., North Miami) through November 9. The show, as yet untitled, features nearly 20,000 images projected onto the walls of the museum's Pavilion Gallery. They constantly shift and morph so that the observer's sense of space and motion gets skewed. Trippy, man. Call 305-893-6211. -- Dan SweeneySAT 9/20Land of the Rising Son
PBICA's representin' the East Coast -- the Far East Coast
When gaijin think of Japanese art, they usually think of geisha girls and many-storied pagodas painted across paper walls. All of these round eyes should check out Japan: Rising, which opens Saturday at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art (601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth). On view through November 9, the exhibit includes the work of 14 contemporary Japanese artists. Since we've used the word contemporary, you're probably thinking that Japanese art means all those anime comic-book-inspired drawings that make for cartoons with ridiculous plots surrounded by a zillion-dollar merchandising industry. PBICA proves otherwise. The anime-influenced form espoused by Takashi Murikami and his ilk is played down in this exhibit, offering a chance for other voices to come through. What results is a cross section of contemporary Japanese art. Call 561-582-0006. -- Dan Sweeney
