Events for the week

tuesday
june 25
5th-Annual 20th Century Erotic Art Show: Republicans and Democrats alike launching election-year ultimatums at the sin-soaked entertainment industry! Southern Baptists boycotting Disney! Famous gospel singer disassociating herself from the most apolitical group of gay men in the world! What's the meaning of this renewed Puritan fervor? A little troublemaker spelled S-E-X, nature's oldest aerobic exercise and one of the few consolation prizes awarded for adulthood. It's bad enough that human beings actually do the dirty deed in various combinations, but those of us who want to explore the subject and its effect on the nonsexual parts of our lives through visual media have co-opted a necessary evil and become the devil's valets, boys and girls. The 5th-Annual 20th Century Erotic Art Show is a celebration of painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, poetry, performance, etc. that celebrates the human body and its pleasure potential. Milam Gallery owner Justine Pokladnik Yeager promises that no image degrades or exploits, but that's cold comfort to the fiery censors who roam America's avenues in this ultraconservative era. Come in and check your long gray overcoat and dark glasses at the door. The show runs through July 15 at Milam Gallery, 5224 Milam St. It's free. Call 821-9045.

wednesday
june 26
Picturing Asia-America: Communities, Culture, Difference: The title of this exhibition at the Arlington Museum of Art says it all: 17 emerging and midcareer Asian-American artists (in this case, that ethnic designation includes Filipino, Indian, Korean, and mixed-race ancestries) rendering their opinions and experiences as visual art. Asian-Americans are probably the group most often ignored at America's fractious race-debate table, but there is no dichotomy more glaring than that between East and West. Photographers from all around the country are included in Picturing Asia-America: Communities, Culture, Difference and they explore the aforementioned tension as they've internalized it, being American citizens who react to the same issues (gender, media, tradition, identity) as their fellow country folk with an added layer of cultural complexity. A free art program for families featuring some of the exhibited artists happens at the opening June 22, 1-3 p.m. The show runs through August 10 at Arlington Museum of Art, 201 W. Main in Arlington. It's free. Call (817) 275-4600.