Ruben Torres Llorca's sublimely intellectual installations often revolve around the world of art itself, and they're like puzzles that blend the personal (love, anguish) with the historic and sociological (oppression, disadvantage). In his new show, Manual de carpintería china (Chinese Carpentry Manual), the Miami-based artist tackles the faddish fascination with all things Chinese via a 'red manual' on the mastery of 'enchantment techniques' that supposedly dates back to the Tsing dynasty. But viewer beware: Torres Llorca is a jokester at heart, and no less a critic, and it pays to note the manipulated J.D. Salinger text, the Life magazine cover, the image of James Stewart as cowboy, and study the sculpture Ella cantaba boleros (She Sang Boleros), above, titled after a short story by the late Cuban novelist Guillermo Cabrera Infante. The carpenter in the show? Torres Llorca himself. `El chino soy yo,' he says.

Manual de carpintería china is on exhibit until Nov. 8 at Praxis International Art, 2219 NW Second Ave., Miami; 305-573-2900. www.praxis-art.com.

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

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