ARTS NOTES

Friday, Sept. 29, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

Judging by the billboards and nightclub ads, Las Vegas likes its women naked, chesty and, more important, submissive.

So how dare the Contemporary Arts Collective meddle with the city's traditional ways by bringing in a sexually explorative exhibit on the nuances of gender?

"We liked what it had to say," says Brian "Paco" Alvarez, vice president of the collective, where "Unrealizable Dreams" is on display through Oct. 14.

The exhibit re-examines sexuality and gender through the photographs of Deborah Bright and Ivana George.

Bright, a photography and art history professor at Rhode Island School of Design, uses a collection of toy ponies to re-examine an archetypical "girlhood obsession with horses" and the seemingly innocent relationship. Bold, sensual and erotic, the toy ponies in soft lighting or bondage gear give new meaning to feminine power and bring alive her girlhood fantasies.

George, an assistant professor of art at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, works in video and photography. Her chimera series features George and her fiance in a fantastical narrative set in a forest. Poses reference neoclassical sculpture. George is dressed as the satyr, which theatrically, she says, "has always been a trickster messing around with people's expectations."

The artists submitted their work together.

"We're both interested in getting people to think about sexuality in alternative ways," George says. "The way we compartmentalize gender and sexual orientation creates comfort for people, but also discrimination and limits the way people can express themselves."

Details: "Unrealizable Dreams," through Oct. 14. Artist reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. today with an artist talk at 6:30 p.m.; Contemporary Arts Collective, 231 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 110; 382-3886

Jazz man returns

It hasn't been a year since jazz trombonist Jimmy Wilkins played his farewell concert and already the conductor is stepping out of retirement. On Saturday, Wilkins and his New Life Orchestra swing band will perform a free concert in Lorenzi Park.

Wilkins, whose Detroit-based orchestra backed scores of noted jazz singers during the 1960s, moved to Las Vegas in the 1990s. He formed the New Life Orchestra to play works by his brother Ernie Wilkins and jazz standards.

Details: 7 p.m. Saturday (gates open at 6 p.m.); Lorenzi Park, near Twin Lakes Drive and Washington Avenue; free

More Misko

Can't get enough of the ever-popular Jerry Misko? The Las Vegas artist (and co-owner of Dust Gallery), will be at the BlankSpace modern design store at Mandalay Place tonight, along with his recent neon-inspired abstract paintings. There is no lecture scheduled, but Misko will be "mingling."

Details: Artist reception, 6 to 9 p.m. today; BlankSpace, Mandalay Place; free; 632-9399

Philippine dance troupe

Bayanihan, the Philippine National Folk Dance Company will perform Tuesday at UNLV as part of its U.S. tour. Bayanihan was formed in 1956 to celebrate Philippine culture through dance, music and costume.

Details: 8 p.m. Tuesday; Artemus Ham Hall, UNLV; $35-$80; 895-2787.

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