MUSIC

THE PATRIOTS The Presidents of the United States of America — the band, not the leaders — are thriving and have been recording new albums since the release of the group’s successful self-titled debut in 1995. That album featured the singles “Peaches” and “Lump,” among others. Appropriately enough, the Presidents’s latest album, “These Are the Good Times People,” hit record stores earlier this month — just as the 2008 presidential election really started heating up. The band performs with Joe Jack Talcum and the Missouri rock band Ludo. Today, 7 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., between the Bowery and Chrystie Street, 212-533-2111, $18.

ART

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND The Gallery of the Office of the Manhattan Borough President presents a retrospective of work by the artist Lynda Caspe. Her latest collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and sculptural reliefs has Gotham as its focus and features scenes of New York streets such as Franklin and Delancey, as well as abstract views of the city and of human figures. A native New Yorker, Ms. Caspe is an adjunct associate professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Through Friday, Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Municipal Building, 1 Centre St., 19th floor, at Chambers Street, 212-669-8300, free.

METAL MADNESS Mark Schubert’s latest exhibit, “55 Gallon,” comprises three sculptures, all of which are in keeping with Mr. Schubert’s practice of incorporating found items, such as cans and chrome tables, along with paint, Fiberglas, and resin in his work. The title of the exhibit refers to one sculpture that features a 55-gallon metal drum that is sliced and reorganized. Through Saturday, April 5, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Monya Rowe Gallery, 526 W. 26th St., no. 605, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-255-5065, free.

DANCE

BRAZILIAN BEATS A Brazil-based dance company, Grupo Corpo, returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to dance “Benguelê and Breu,” a pair of pieces choreographed by the artistic director Rodrigo Pederneiras. Set to music by Brazilian composers, each piece reflects the company’s mission of exploring Brazil’s national culture. “Benguelê” is an expression of the country’s recognition of its African roots, while “Breu” is the tale of a society deprived of the ability to communicate. Tomorrow and Thursday–Saturday, 7:30 p.m., BAM, Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, $20–$60.

FILM

LOVE, FRENCH STYLE “Le Divorce,” the 2003 film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Diane Johnson, follows two American sisters, played by Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts, who are coping with affairs of the heart in the City of Lights. The French Institute Alliance Française hosts a screening of the movie, which is followed by a conversation with the film’s director, James Ivory. A founder of film company Merchant Ivory (Ismail Merchant died in 2005), Mr. Ivory discusses the film, and his enduring Francophilia, and answers audience questions. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St. at Madison Ave., 212-307-4100, $10.

ESCAPE INTO NOWHERE Li Yang’s dramatic film, “Blind Mountain” (2007), is set amid the modern Chinese slave trade, as a woman — who believes she is leaving her mountainous province for a promised job — is instead kidnapped, drugged, and sold as a bride. As the woman, played by Huang Li, makes multiple attempts to escape, she finds that the community she has been taken to is controlled by government enablers, worsening her chances for freedom and survival. Mr. Li is also known for exposing abuses in the Chinese mining industry in his 2003 film, “Blind Shaft.” Tomorrow, 1:30, 3:30, 5, 8, and 10 p.m., Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-727-8110, $10.50 general, $5.50 seniors, members, and children.

MUSEUMS

RENAISSANCE MEN Before the Italian masters painted the ceilings of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, there were sketches and planning to be done. “Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi” gathers drawings by Ponteromo, Andrea del Sarto, and Bronzino. They were involved in creating the artworks that decorated the various apartments at the Florentine palace, which served as the home of the Medici dukes in the 16th century. Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned artist Georgio Vasari to create and preside over much of the artistic expansion and direction at the palace. The show comprises nearly 80 sketches — including four by Vasari. “[N]ot since the Met’s Leonardo drawing show have so many remarkable and illuminating Florentine drawings been available in New York under one roof,” Lance Esplund wrote in the January 24 New York Sun. Through Sunday, April 20, Tuesday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street, 212-685-0008, $12.

MUSIC

WHAT ABOUT BRIAN Tenor Brian Cheney has his recital debut at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Catherine Venable accompanies Mr. Cheney, who performs works by Liszt, Vaughan Williams, Romberg, Blitzstein, and Youmans, among others. The rising tenor’s eclectic repertoire includes opera, Viennese and American operetta, musical theater, and American popular song. Saturday, 8:30 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, 881 Seventh Ave. at 55th Street, 212-247-7800, $50 and up.

PHOTOGRAPHY

SAND FEVER Massimo Vitali began his career in the 1960s as a photojournalist. By the 1990s, he had turned his attention to creating large-scale photographs of crowded leisure scenes. His 1995 “Beaches” series captures its subjects in various forms of repose and enjoying the great outdoors. His latest work, a self-titled exhibit, is on view at Bonni Benrubi Gallery. Through Saturday, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Bonni Benrubi Gallery, 41 E. 57th St., 13th floor, at Madison Avenue, 212-888-6007, free.

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 featured twosomes caught in passionate embraces — from long lip locks to saucy smooches. The artists, who scoured eBay, yard sales, and flea markets, as well as stumbled upon a few chance finds, compiled the collection after meeting — rather appropriately — on the popular photo sharing Web site, Flickr.com. Through Sunday, Saturday and Sunday, noon–6 p.m., or by appointment, City Reliquary, 370 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer Street, 718-782-4842, donations welcome.

TALKS

SCIENCE OF GROOVING A Columbia University neuroscientist, Dave Sulzer, and a co-director of Columbia’s Motor Performance Laboratory, John Krakauer, lead a discussion of what it is in human brain activity that leads to the response to melody. Mr. Sulzer has devoted much of his research to unraveling the mysteries of what makes humans interested in — and adept at— music. Mr. Sulzer, who moonlights as a composer under the pseudonym Dave Soldier, also treats attendees to the premiere of his Quartet for Percussion and Brain Waves, a live performance/ experiment with drummers and electroencephalographs. Today, 6:30 p.m., 365 Fifth Ave. at 34th Street, 212-817-7522, free.

MUCH ADO Although it’s impossible to know what Shakespeare might have made of the recent spate of scandals to rock New York’s governor’s mansion, the Bard’s sharp take on the ruling classes and the ends to which they will go to maintain power is no less relevant today than in his own time. In the next installment of Conversations with Shakespeare, an ongoing series at Symphony Space, participants tackle “The Uses of Revenge.” Guest actors perform scenes from selected plays and panelists lead a talk, debating how the playwright would react to current events and recent trends, were he alive today.

Today, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, 212-864-5400, $20, $17 students, $16 members.

PHOTOGRAPHY

JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES The Howard Greenberg Gallery presents “Photographers of Japanese Descent,” a group show that represents the scope of work by Japanese photographers that the gallery has shown in the past. The exhibit was mounted as part of New York’s Asia Week, which concludes today. Featured artists include Shoji Ueda and Iwao Yamawaki, and selected images include Tosh Matsumoto’s “Untitled (shoes in sandy blanket)” (c. 1950), above. Through Saturday, May 3, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Howard Greenberg Gallery, 41 W. 57th St., suite 1406, at Madison Avenue, 212-334-0010, free.

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