ART

WHO’S THE BOSS? An artist based in Hangzhou, China, Chen Xiaoyun, presents “Love You, Big Boss,” his first New York exhibit. The show comprises three videos and four large-scale photographs depicting staged scenes of everyday life. The allegorical images seem at once familiar and peculiar, but all are meant to confront America’s role as superpower and how the country is perceived abroad. In the video named for the exhibit, an orchestra performs in an empty theater with each musician playing his or her own version of the American national anthem. In the photograph titled “Dusk of Mr. Chen” (2007), a man is depicted waist deep in a pile of debris; a detail is at right. Opens tonight, 6–8 p.m., through Sunday, March 30, Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., the Project Gallery, 37 W. 57th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 3rd floor, 212-688-1585, free.

DESIGN

FURNITURE FOR THE FUTURE

Scandinavia House presents “Scandinavian Design: New Classics for the 21st Century,” a lecture given by a professor at the New York School of Interior Design, Judith Gura. Ms. Gura is also the author of the “Sourcebook of Scandinavian Furniture: Designs for the 21st Century” (W.W. Norton). The modern look of Nordic furniture design first gained international popularity after World War II; the approach employed an emphasis on craft, nature, and humanism. Ms. Gura discusses recent developments and radical changes put forth by a young generation of designers and how those have retained a connection to mid-century Scandinavian design. Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave., between 37th and 38th streets, 212-879-9779, $10 general, $8 members, free for students.

HOLIDAY

HOW TO LOSE A GIRL A classic Hollywood screwball romance directed by Howard Hawks, “His Girl Friday” (1940) stars Cary Grant as a hard-nosed newspaper editor who goes out of his way to keep his ace reporter (and ex-wife), played by Rosalind Russell, from remarrying. The screening is featured as part of a Valentine’s Day “Dinner and a Movie” package at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; a four-course dinner and complimentary Champagne are served at BAMcafé. Tonight, 6:30 p.m. screening with 8:30 p.m. dinner, or 6:45 p.m. dinner with 8:30 p.m. screening, BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Brooklyn, 718-623-7811, $63.

BETTER THAN ICE CREAM Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright performs with his band on Valentine’s Day. Mr. Wainwright, whose confessional style has made him a favorite among fans, once compared his lover in song to cravings for chocolate milk and cigarettes. He performs selections from his new album, “Release the Stars.” The son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, opens the show.

Tonight, 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave. at 50th Street, 212-307-1000, $39–$55.

MUSIC

FROM BACH TO BEYONCÉ The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts presents “3 Mo’ Divas,” a concert inspired by writer/director Marion Caffey’s Broadway production “Three Mo’ Tenors.” The trio of female vocalists is cast from a revolving group of performers. A wide-ranging program covers gospel, R&B, show tunes, and opera. The event (and its still-running, all-male predecessor) is a soulful take on the “The Three Tenors” series of concerts held in the 1990s and early 2000s that featured opera superstars Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and José Carreras playing concerts for the masses. Saturday, 8 p.m., Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Walt Whitman Theatre, 2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place, Brooklyn, 718-951-4500, $25–$70.

ICELANDIC IMPORT Soprano Dísella Làrusdóttir makes her New York debut with a recital at the Kaufman Center. The program includes works by Purcell and Rachmaninoff, as well as Icelandic composers Jorunn Vidar and Jon Asgeirsson. Pianist Debra Scurto-Davis accompanies. Although Ms. Làrusdóttir did not begin her vocal training until age 22, she has been productive: She was a national finalist at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Kaufman Center, Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-501-3330, $25 general, $15 students and seniors.

PAINTINGS

THE BEAT GOES ON “Rub Out The Word,” an exhibit of artwork by beat writer William Burroughs, has its opening on Friday. In addition to writing, Burroughs was also a prolific visual artist. Between 1982 and 1995, he spent hours each day drawing and painting. The canvasses of his “shotgun paintings,” which are among the pieces on show, bear actual bullet hole markings — the result of Burroughs’s wielding a shotgun to give the artworks that indescribable raw texture. Opening reception Friday, 6 p.m., exhibit through Saturday, March 29, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Stellan Holm Gallery, 524 W. 24th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-627-7444, free.

THEATER

VONNEGUT ONSTAGE The Godlight Theatre Company stages “Slaughterhouse-Five or: The Children’s Crusade” at 59E59 Theaters. The play is adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel by Eric Simonson. In this anti-war, science-fiction tale, a former American prisoner of war and alien abductee time-travels through various stages of his life, including a tragic childhood and the bombing of Dresden during World War II. Tonight and tomorrow, 8:30 p.m., Saturday, 2:30 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, 3:30 p.m., 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., between Madison and Park avenues, 212-753-5959, $25, $17.50 members.

PHOTOGRAPHY

HUGS JUST WON’T DO The City Reliquary presents “76 Kisses: Snapshots From the Collection of Lori Baker and David E. Brown,” an exhibit of found photographs. The Brooklyn-based couple (also artists) searched high and low for images spanning the last century that feature twosomes caught in passionate embrace — from long lip locks to saucy smooches. Two untitled highlights are shown above. The pair, who scoured eBay, yard sales, and flea markets, as well as stumbling upon a few chance finds, compiled the collection after meeting — rather appropriately — on a popular photo sharing Web site, Flickr. Through Sunday, March 30, Saturday and Sunday, noon–6:00 p.m., or by appointment, City Reliquary, 370 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer Street, 718-782-4842, donations welcome.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.