ART

BEAUTY, THE BEAST An exhibit of feminist artist Martha Rosler’s photomontages focuses mostly on work from two series. “Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful/In Vietnam” was created between 1967 and 1972, and “Beauty Knows No Pain, or Body Beautiful,” from 1965 to 1974. For the latter series, Ms. Rosler cut out female body parts from Playboy magazines and pasted them onto advertisements for kitchen appliances and lingerie. Several new collages are also included in the exhibit. Through January 8, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Gorney Bravin + Lee, 534 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-352-8872, free.

IN STITCHES Artist Darrel Morris was introduced to quilting and embroidery while growing up in rural Kentucky. There, handicrafts were a hobby, not an art. Now a professor in Chicago, Mr. Morris creates small-scale textile works depicting scenes with men and boys – in one piece, an elderly fast-food worker straightens an order of fries, and in another, an older man fixes a young boy’s necktie. Mr. Morris first embroiders the image and then appliques the piece onto fabric cut from clothing. An exhibit of his work closes this weekend. Through Saturday, tomorrow-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Lyonswier Gallery, 511 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, no. 205, 212-242-6220, free.

DOWNTOWN DISPLAY Wall Street Rising’s “Downtown II” is an assemblage of contemporary art chosen by Mikhail Baryshnikov, brothers Danny and Russell Simmons, Diane von Furstenberg, and Robert Wilson. Each has designed a personal exhibit combining their own work, pieces by artists they admire, and art from Deutsche Bank’s corporate collection. Artists represented in the exhibit include Vik Muniz, Takashi Murakami, Neo Rauch, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol. Through Friday, December 10, Tuesday-Friday, noon-7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m., 48 Wall St. at William Street, 212-509-0300, free.

BENEFITS

PICKY EATERS The Food Allergy Ball holds its annual gala awards ceremony and dinner. Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry and Per Se will be honored with a lifetime achievement award. The Food Allergy Initiative is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of life-threatening food allergies and supports research into cures. Tomorrow, 7 p.m. cocktails, 8 p.m. dinner and awards, the Plaza Hotel, 768 Fifth Ave. at 59th Street, 212-675-9474, $1,500 and $2,500.

JUST ONE BREAK DANCE A dinner and dance gala benefits Just One Break, an organization founded by Eleanor Roosevelt that helps find jobs for people with disabilities. Honorees at the blacktie event include a survivor of the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Paul Esposito, and Trisha Meili, who survived an attack while jogging in Central Park in 1989. Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. reception, 7:15 p.m. dinner and awards, Waldorf-Astoria, 301 Park Ave. at 49th Street, 212-785-7300, 212-785-4515 TTY, $750-$2,500.

LOOK AND LISTEN The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary celebrates the holidays with an evening of dinner and dancing. The hospital’s chief of retina services, Dr. Thomas Muldoon, receives a physician of the year award. WABC TV’s Scott Clark serves as master of ceremonies at the event, which benefits the hospital’s children’s services. Wednesday, 6 p.m. cocktails and silent auction, 7:30 p.m. dinner and dancing, the Pierre, Fifth Avenue at 61st Street, 212-979-4019, $700.

BOOKS

RACE IN AMERICA Cultural critic Stanley Crouch discusses his essay collection “The Artificial White Man” (Basic Books). The book addresses racial and ethnic authenticity in America. Tonight, 6 p.m., Borders Books Time-Warner Center, 10 Columbus Cir. 212-823-9775, free.

CLARK FAMILY CHRISTMAS Mother and daughter authors Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark sign their holiday mystery novel “The Christmas Thief” (Simon & Schuster). Tomorrow, 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble Rockefeller Center, 600 Fifth Ave. at 48th Street, 212-765-0593, free.

DANCE

DANCE DEBUT Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater opens its New York season with a gala performance that includes the world premiere of “Love Stories,” set to the music of Stevie Wonder. Derek Jeter serves as honorary chair for the gala that follows. Wednesday, 7 p.m. performance, New York City Center, 55th Street between between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 9:30 p.m. gala, Sheraton New York, 811 Seventh Ave. at 53rd Street, 212-581-1212 tickets to performance only, 212-767-0590 ext. 525 for gala tickets, $25-$35 performance only, $300-$2,500 gala and performance.

FILM

WAR STORY Susan Sontag selected 10 Japanese films to be screened in the current installment of Japan Society’s “Critic’s Choice” series. Up next is “Fires on the Plain (Nobi),” a 1959 film about a young soldier on the battlefield in the Philippines. Director Kon Ichikawa adapted an autobiographical war novel by Shohei Ooka about his experiences during the final years of World War II. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., Japan Society, 333 E. 47th St., between First and Second avenues, 212-832-1155 for information, 212-752-3015 for tickets, $10 general, $5 seniors, students, and members.

FOOD & DRINK

FROMAGE FELLOW Cheese expert Max Mc-Calman hosts a wine and cheese tasting at Nolita House. Selected comments from attendees will be included in his upcoming book “Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Finest.” Monday, 7-9 p.m., Nolita House, 47 E. Houston St., between Mott and Mulberry streets, 212-625-1712, $65, reservations recommended.

FOR GOODNESS SAKE A sake tasting features four selections from the 850-year-old Sudohonke brewery, led by its 55thgeneration family brewmaster. Two courses accompany each sake course, including lightly breaded fish on bamboo skewers and scallop carpaccio. Wednesday, 7-9 p.m., Sachi’s on Clinton, 25 Clinton St., between Houston and Stanton streets, 212-253-2900, $80, reservations required.

MUSIC

BETA BACH A technological concert titled “/RoboRecital/” is performed from start to finish by nonhuman creations. The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots created a “GuitarBot” to perform Bach’s “Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080, Contrapuncti II and III.” Other nonhuman musical performers include a modern player piano and a Mozart-playing automated pipe organ. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, Paul Hall, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, Broadway at 65th Street, 212-769-7406, free.

READINGS

CHAPTER ONE Junno’s Monday Night Reading Series invites writers to try out their works-in-progress in front an audience. Up next are the author of “Chang and Eng” (Dutton), Darin Strauss, and literary blogger Maud Newton, who is also a fiction writer. Tonight, 7:30 p.m., 64 Downing St., between Bedford and Varick streets, 212-627-7995, free.

TALKS

HUMAN BEHAVIOR Anthopology professor Lesley Sharp gives a talk titled “Human, Monkey, Machine: The Brave New World of Human Hybridity.” The lecture is the last in a three-part series on biotechnology. Tonight, 8 p.m., reception to follow, Columbia University, Faculty House, 400 W. 117th St. at Morningside Drive, 212-854-2389, free.

ISLAND INVASION Writer Madhusree Mukerjee lectures about how outsiders have affected the formerly isolated Andaman Islands off the coast of India. The talk is based on her book “The Land of Naked People” (Houghton Mifflin). Tomorrow, 7-8:30 p.m., American Museum of Natural History, Kaufman Theater, Central Park West at 77th Street, 212-769-5200, $15 general, $12 members.

PARADISE FOUND A co-curator of the exhibit “Gauguin Tahiti” at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, George Shackelford, discusses the artist’s voyage to the South Seas and his creation of a dream vision of a new paradise. Wednesday, 6 p.m., the Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, 212-288-0700, free if arriving less than a half hour before event.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION Law professor and novelist Thane Rosenbaum hosts a discussion titled “Free Speech and the Constitution in an Age of Terrorism.” Participants include congressman Jerrold Nadler and the author of “Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 17989 to the War on Terrorism” (W.W. Norton), Geoffrey Stone. Wednesday, 8 p.m., Fordham University School of Law, Mc-Nally Amphitheater, 140 W. 62nd St., between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, 212-636-6945, free.

ISRAEL AND ISLAM Americans for a Safe Israel hosts a daylong conference titled “Islam’s War Against America and Israel.” Topics include the “international campaign against Israel” and relations between Christians and Jews. Sunday, 9 a.m. registration, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. programs, kosher lunch included, Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th streets, 800-235-3658, $180, reservations requested.

THEATER

LOVE AND MARRIAGE Nikolai Gogol’s 1833 comedy “Marriage” takes place in St. Petersburg and follows a young unmarried woman who is wooed by four bachelors. The play is performed in repertory with Moliere’s “The Imaginary Invalid.” Through Sunday, December 19, days and times vary, the Pearl Theatre Company, Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark’s Place at First Avenue, 212-598-9802, $40 for Tuesday-Thursday shows and Saturday matinees, $50 Friday-Sunday shows.

OEDIPAL COMPLEX Actor Bill Pullman reads a translation of Sophocles’s “Oedipus at Colonus” with the Aquila Theatre Company. The readings benefits the National MS Society, which supports research into multiple sclerosis and offers services to people suffering from the disease. The event also launches Aquila’s 2005 theatrical season. A discussion with Mr. Pullman and the rest of the cast follows the reading. Thursday, 8 p.m., Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave., between 24th and 25th streets, 212-998-8017, $30.

TOURS

BRONX FROM THE BUS A Municipal Art Society bus tour of the Grand Concourse examines the history of the boulevard, which stretches almost the entire length of the Bronx. Buildings along the way include Cardinal Hayes High School, several historic apartment buildings, the 1929 Loew’s Paradise building, and Edgar Allen Poe’s cottage. The Concourse was conceived around the same time as Brooklyn’s Eastern and Ocean parkways in the 1870s, but construction didn’t start for another 30 years. Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., tour begins and ends at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Ave., between 50th and 51st streets, 212-935-3960, $70 general, $60 members, ticket price includes lunch, reservations required.

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