Most of Mr. Estévez's art is similarly democratic, particularly his audience-engaging performances, which can
be sampled in video documentation. And while most of the objects in the show make the most sense in a performance context, some have punch on their own. Among these are some terrific drawings and the costume for the performance" Super Merengue" (2000), in which Mr. Estévez played a Superman-angel dressed in a tassled cape and flip-flops, which double as flotation devices to escort immigrants between the Dominican Republic and the United States.

That piece gives a nice sense of the sly wit and tart sweetness of Mr. Estévez's art and of its recurrent themes:
Latino-ness in a greater American culture and machismo in Latino culture. Both are addressed in "The
Flag," a continuing performance that finds the artist spending afternoons in the gallery to chat with visitors while he sews a banner joining elements from the Dominican and American flags. A display of snapshots of Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia and the artist's Washington Heights apartment clinch a historical connection, while the flag-in-progress replaces the words" God, Fatherland, Liberty" from the Dominican original with a logo of the American Airlines Airbus that now connects countries and cultures.

"The Flag" has already raised hackles with some Hostos students, though it says something about the elasticity of Mr. Estévez's concept that the protests are varied and contradictory. They will all be aired tonight when the
finished flag is unveiled at Hostos in celebration of Dominican Independence Day. The 7 p.m. ceremony will be
followed by an audience-participation discussion, which will itself be, by default, part of Mr. Estévez's larger
project: a career-long performance about art doing the stimulating work it was meant to do.