The Rotunda Gallery, 33 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights, presents ANIMAS! an exhibition exploring the spirit that animates objects. Organized by Rotunda Director Janet Riker and Associate Director Meridith McNeal, ANIMAS! opens on Thursday, November 15th with an artists' reception and performance event featuring exhibiting artists Matt Freedman. Also on hand will be street performers the Mercury Men. The exhibtion remain on view through December 29. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, Noon - 5 PM and Saturday, 11 AM - 4 PM. Admission is free. Information: 718-875-4047; or www.brooklynX.org/rotunda.

The tradition of performing objects has a long history stretching back to ancient performance practices, folk and popular theater, as well as religious ceremony. Taking object theater as its starting point, ANIMAS! encompasses drawing, sculpture, masks, puppetry and storytelling, and explores the presence of life in objects for both the visual and performing arts. From delicate wire and found object sculptures to costumes and props for theater, the works presented in ANIMAS! evoke a sense of magic and wonder. Many of these works (such as prototypes of props used in the Broadway production of The Producers) have a whimsical theatrical presence. In addition to contemporary artists who use masks and puppet sculpture, the exhibition will include artists whose work concerns the narrative force of anonymous objects. In conjunction with the exhibition an informal evening of short performance are planned for Friday, November 30th at 7PM. Featured performers include Michael Lee Poy, Matt Freedman, Hanne Tierney and Yoko Inoue.

Artists in the exhibition include:

Meredith Allen, whose series of photographs depict cartoon character popsicles in the process of melting.

Matt Freedman, who will install a vivid painted backdrop for his performances that will include storytelling and simultaneous two-hand drawing based on vaudeville art of "spirit drawing."

Marina Gutierrez, whose wearable wire sculptures are based on specific figures in Latino cultural traditions.

John Jerard, professional "artistic-problem-solver" and prop-maker for The Producers, will exhibit masks made for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, inventive head gear for actors, and models of the performing pigeons from The Producers.

Yoko Inoue, whose precariously positioned collection of like ceramic objects (from bones to bunny eggs) are piled wedding cake fashion atop a rolling dolly.

Si-Yeon Kim, whose delicate paper sculptures depict incrementally shrinking houses - part of an on-going narrative about a girl with two heads and her obsessive need to find a coherent self.

Kristy Knight's installation includes a video of floating "lead" table projected onto a suspended orb. The engaging video documents the extra-ordinary adventures of an everyday object.

Michael Lee Poy whose fanciful costumes constructed of fabric metal and found objects have appeared in puppet parades and performance events throughout the country.

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz whose rubbery "Beta Boys" attempt to resolve a fundamental dilemma revolving around the size of their noggins.

Christopher Moore whose kinetic sculptures made from found materials reference organic, sometimes bird-like motion; some of these delicate, low-tech works are interactive and require viewer participation.

Daniel Scheffer, whose simple and playful cut paper profiles are each uniquely individual while evoking a sense of universal humanity.

Jenna Spevack whose series of gentle drawings of string and rock formations adrift in a roiling sea form a continuous narrative based on the laws of physics.

Hanne Tierney, award-winning practitioner of abstract theater will create an installation consisting of a counterweight stringing system capable of manipulating objects in strange and haunting ways.