PAINTING & DRAWING

NO TIME FOR MASTERPIECES The Mary Boone Gallery presents “Kati Heck: Gsuffa, der eiserne Pomoment,” an exhibit of new figurative paintings and drawings. It is the German artist’s first solo show in New York. Included are six large works that depict characters in ambiguous scenarios with cryptic messages scrawled in the backgrounds. The subjects can be disturbing, but reflect the artist’s desire to comment on the world as it is and how it should be. Ms. Heck’s “contributions to contemporary figuration are unique. Next to the bitter, upending weirdness of [Neo] Rauch, her rebelliousness has the air of almost wholesome mischief,” John Goodrich wrote in the January 24 New York Sun. Highlights include “Keine Zeit für Meisterwerke (Himmelfahrtskommando)” (2007), a detail of which is at right. Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., through Saturday, March 1, Mary Boone Gallery, 745 Fifth Ave., between 57th and 58th streets, 212-752-2929, free.

DESIGN

ROYAL BLOOM “Watercolors From the Highgrove Florilegium,” an exhibit of botanical paintings inspired by the garden of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is on view at the Gallery of the New York School of Interior Design. A group of 48 international artists created 75 watercolors from the varieties of plants, fruits, and vegetables growing at the 15-acre Highgrove garden. The show is organized according to botanical classification and marks the first public display of these works. “Florilegium” is the Latin term for a collection of pictures of plants in a specific garden; it is a practice that unites two of the Prince’s chief passions — horticulture and painting. Through Saturday, April 12, Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Gallery of the New York School of Interior Design, 161 E. 69th St., between Lexington and Third avenues, 212-472-1500, free.

MUSEUMS

EYE ON SOUTH AMERICA In the exhibit “New Perspectives in Latin American Art, 1930–2006: Selections from a Decade of Acquisitions,” the Museum of Modern Art turns its focus to the early rise and development of the Constructivist movement in Latin America — a movement that concentrated on infusing politics and social issues into art. Through Monday, February 25, Saturday–Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m., MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-708-9400, $20 general, $16 seniors, $12 students, free for children and members.

MUSIC

TICKLING THE STRINGS Harpist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom plays a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The show has been added to her sold-out engagement with the Brooklyn Philharmonic under the direction of Michael Christie. Ms. Newsom performs songs from her 2006 album “Ys” with the orchestra, and a second set with her band. With her 2004 debut album, “The Milk-Eyed Mender,” Ms. Newsom gave a new voice to the harp and demonstrated the possibilities of blending distinctly different styles — from Appalachian folk to African rhythms — to create new sounds. Ms. Newsom’s performance in Brooklyn is part of “BP Presents,” Mr. Christie’s pet project to lend his orchestra to groundbreaking young artists. Tonight,8p.m.,BAM, Howard Gilman Opera House, Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, 718-636-4100, $25–$55.

HUNGRY FOR BRAHMS Violinist Viviane Hagner gives a recital at the 92nd Street Y. The performance comes on the heels of Ms. Hagner’s debut with the New York Philharmonic earlier this month. Russian pianist Tatiana Goncharova joins the Munich-born Ms. Hagner. She performs three selections by Brahms — Scherzo in C minor, “Hungarian Dances,” and a world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s arrangement of waltzes, Op. 39 — as well as Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin and Bach’s Chaconne in D minor. Tonight, 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-415-5500, $40 general, $25 for ages 35 and under.

MENDELSSOHN AND MORE The chamber music ensemble Lautreamont Concerts performs a program of Mendelssohn at the Chelsea Art Museum. The program features two works written before the composer had reached the age of 30: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor and String Quartet No. 3. Pianist Steven Graff also performs a musical intermission of works by Fauré and Satie. Other members of the ensemble — all international soloists from the Juilliard School and the Paris and Moscow conservatories — include violinists Steven Zynszajn and Francisco Salazar, cellist Alistair MacRae, and violist Whitney LaGrange. Tonight, 7 p.m., Chelsea Art Museum, 556 W. 22nd St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-255-0719, $15 general, $10 students and seniors.

TALKS

OWNING JAZZ The director of the jazz studies program at Rutgers University, Lewis Porter, leads a panel of jazz experts in a discussion that asks, “Is Jazz Black Music?” and probes the history of the genre. Mr. Porter is the author of “John Coltrane: His Life and Music” (University of Michigan). The assembled panelists debate the provenance of jazz and question whether any one group can lay claim to it. While jazz has been considered a black innovation, some historians argue that certain elements of jazz, such as improvisation and call-and-response, have their roots in other cultures and musical forms. Speakers include clarinetist Don Byron, saxophonist Daniel Carter, and a longtime critic and columnist for the Village Voice, Nat Hentoff. Tonight, 7 p.m., Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Irene Diamond Education Center, Broadway at 60th Street, 212-721-6500, $10.

PHOTOGRAPHY

TRIPLE TROUBLE Women of many shapes and sizes dominate Katy Grannan’s photographs. Her work is currently the subject of two exhibits, “Lady Into Fox” at a new Lower East Side gallery, Salon 94 Freemans, and “Another Woman Who Died in Her Sleep” at the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery. Each show focuses on Northern California women: “Lady Into Fox” follows two best friends and transsexuals, Gail and Dale, while “Another Woman” depicts Nicole, a striking blonde whom Ms. Grannan captures in a number of dramatic, even jarring situations. Selections from the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery show include”Crissy Field Parking Lot (I)” (2006), above. “Another Woman” through Saturday, February 16, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, 730 Fifth Ave., between 56th and 57th streets, 212-445-0444, free; “Lady Into Fox” through Saturday, February 23, Tuesday, noon–6 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Salon 94 Freemans, 1 Freeman Alley, between Chrystie Street and the Bowery, 212-529-7400, free.

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