Friday through Sunday: MEN ARE ANIMALS at 11:Eleven 

There’s no doubt that art can be sexy, but most galleries don’t come with an “adults only” warning. Not so for MEN ARE ANIMALS, a pop-up event taking place at 11:Eleven gallery this weekend that’s exclusively for viewers over the age of 18. Curator Joshua Cook selected a mix of queer DMV and national artists, some of whom he’s worked with at erotic art-making events. Though there’s plenty of work from a queer or sexual lens, the focus is on the theme of the exhibit’s title. If humans are mere animals, are they carnal or innocent, domesticated or wild, more in touch with the world or oblivious to it? Some highlights include a rabbit-infused photo series from Maryland-based boudoir photographer Ronjhay Bowser, skeletal “bone men” mixed-media pieces from D.C. artist Aiden Paddlety, photographer Jeanette Spicer’s photographs that explore the lesbian gaze, and inventive sculptures and custom jewelry by Kayla Rodriguez. Most works are for sale, and interested buyers can DM @men.are.animals on Instagram to come to a collector’s preview Friday night from 4 to 6 p.m.; an opening reception, open to the public, follows. Saturday evening (long after when galleries typically close up for the night) will be packed with sexy supplemental activities. A preview of the yet-to-be-completed documentary RIDE: A Queer Kink Adventure will be shown, created by artist Patrick McNaughton and following his journey through kink and fetish communities following the end of a long-term relationship. The film is seeking further funding and will explore the history of the kink and fetish scene, and challenge the preconceptions of who participates in those circles. Things will get even steamier when McNaughton’s erotic art organization dandyland.art demonstrates some live nude body painting, and clothing pop-up Blame Daddy will have some slightly naughty looks for sale. MEN ARE ANIMALS runs Jan. 12, from 6-8 p.m.; Jan. 13 from noon to 9 p.m.; and Jan. 14 from noon to 5 p.m. at 11:Eleven gallery, 10 Florida Ave. NW. menareanimals.gallery. Free. —Stephanie Rudig

Saturday: Okan at the Kennedy Center

Okan is a Toronto-based band founded by violinist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne. The duo incorporate a range of styles from the Caribbean and around the world, including classical, jazz, samba, and traditional Cuban music, which itself blends styles from Africa and Spain. The focus on Cuban music is especially important to Okan—both Rodriguez and Savigne are originally from Cuba. In fact, Rodriguez was the Havana Youth Orchestra’s concertmaster(!) before relocating to Canada for political reasons. “Every Cuban is running away from a dictatorship,” said Rodriguez in an interview with the Edmonton Journal. “When you get the opportunity to go to another country you take it… Feeling free is priceless.” (In a later interview with Afropop Worldwide in September, Rodriguez noted that life in Canada isn’t perfect either: “People come here with degrees and become cab drivers.”) Although spreading the gospel of traditional Cuban music is core to the group’s mission, fusing Cuban rhythms and styles with others is what makes their sound unique. Okan recently collaborated with Colombian Canadian singer Lido Pimienta, and their most recent album, OKANTOMI, may be their most eclectic yet, featuring a Vietnamese flutist and “futuristic Afro-Cuban” energy. The band’s name, which means “heart” in Santeria, is fitting for a number of reasons: One, not unlike Okan, Santeria blends traditions from Africa, the Caribbean, and the West. Two, soon after Savigne and Rodriguez met in Canada as part of another project, they decided not only to form a band together, but to get married. “Okan” describes both the band’s roots and the relationship at its center. “We get to experience a life where we can share so many cool things that are happening to us as individuals, as human beings,” Rodriguez told Afropop Worldwide. “We’re both sharing that stage and the music.” Okan play at 6 p.m. on Jan. 13 at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. kennedy-center.org. Free, but tickets are currently sold out. —Will Lennon

Ends Sunday: How to Be a Korean Woman at Theater J

Finishing its two-week run this weekend, How to Be a Korean Woman is the final entry in the Here I Am series, a “triptych” of solo shows focused on identity staged by Theater J at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center. Written and performed by the Twin Cities-based Sun Mee Chomet, with direction by Zaraawar Mistry, How to Be a Korean Woman is an autobiographical story of one American adoptee’s reunion with her Korean birth family. Well-received by audiences across the U.S. and in Korea, Theater J’s production is the one-woman show’s East Coast regional premiere. Chomet is quoted in the program as saying, “I have always been grateful that my father was Jewish…There are so many parallels in the Jewish-American and Korean-American experiences of family history and loss and survival.” Chomet also says that while the show explores her own story and “the internal life of what so many adoptees hold inside,” it is fundamentally and “universally about every person’s desire to be whole.” Running 85 minutes with no intermission, remaining shows including evening performances, a Friday and Sunday matinee (which is open-captioned). How to Be a Korean Woman runs through Jan. 14 at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. theaterj.org. $49.99–$90.99. —Allison R. Shely

Wednesday: Cure at Alamo Drafthouse

“Who are you?” You might answer by describing your job. Maybe you state your gender or nationality. But who are you beneath that? And beneath that? What are you covering up with this LinkedIn-compatible facade you call a life? Why? Try it again. “Who are you?” In the hands of Mamiya, the amnesiac drifter at the center of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1997 film, Cure, this seemingly innocuous question is as lethal as the deadliest virus. Cure would play like a relatively straightforward cat-and-mouse murder mystery if it weren’t for the fact that Mamiya never actually kills anyone. He simply asks questions, peels off layers, and finds the shuddering brutality hidden beneath the skins of his victims turned perpetrators. Then they do the killing for themselves. Whether Mamiya is supernatural or using some psychological trick lifted from the notebooks of Anton Mesmer isn’t clear. The cop charged with putting a stop to the strange rampage is Detective Kenichi Takabe. In a subversion of the standard hard-boiled detective trope, Takabe isn’t a particularly resilient investigator, and he certainly isn’t immune to Mamiya’s mind games. As he closes in on his target, he’s also getting closer to something inside himself that he doesn’t want to face. Cure is hard to classify. Because of its setting and tone, it’s often categorized alongside acclaimed Japanese horror movies of the day like Ringu (1998) and Audition (1999). It’s also a keystone in the filmography of a director best known for horror. Kurosawa (no relation to Akira or Rashomon fame) would go on to make J-horror classic Pulse, and has been hailed by some as Japan’s equivalent to Canada’s David Cronenberg. Still, Cure isn’t really a horror movie. It’s technically a detective story … But it’s not a mystery, since there’s no question of who’s doing the killing. Instead, the question is “what drives us to kill?” Or, as Mamiya might put it: “Who are you?” Cure screens at 8 p.m. on Jan. 17 at Alamo Drafthouse, 630 Rhode Island Ave. NE. drafthouse.com. $11. —Will Lennon