This week in the Arts

Heyward Sims is about to get exposed.

Sims, who is known to bargoers as the guitarist for the post-rock band Death Becomes Even the Maiden, is also a visual artist. He'll hang a show at Frame of Mind as part of The FOM Series. The exhibition, titled "Cagematch: Clarity vs. Chaos," opens Thursday. The opening reception is 6 to 9 p.m.

"It's a side of me that has always existed but never been public," Sims said. "It's mostly a private hobby.

"I started drawing and painting before I started playing guitar."

Sims, a freelance graphic designer, will show more than 10 pieces of mixed media paintings made primarily with acrylic and oil paint, as well as found and discarded objects.

Mark Plessinger, who owns Frame of Mind, the eyewear boutique on Main Street, saw Death Becomes Even the Maiden perform a set at McMaster Gallery. Sims gave Plessinger a recording that included Sims' graphic design as cover art. Sims paraphrased Plessinger's response to the packaging: "Do you do any real art?"

As it turned out, he does.

"These pieces of art are a little more literal and specifically personal," Sims said. "In a band, you function as a unit. In graphic design, you're creating something for someone else."

Sims will enjoy freedom by being the sole artist in this exhibition, but there's also the kind of exposure, a focus that is his alone to deal with. (Sims also has a solo band, Devereaux.)

"I guess you're a little more exposed, but in a way it's easier," he said. "There's nothing really to mess up. There's no performance aspect to it. You're not going to blow a riff. You're not going to forget a chord progression.

"If people hate it, I'm not going to cry."

How could he? He's the one inviting people to see the results of the cage match that goes on inside his head.

"It's not entirely original. It's named after one of the pieces," Sims said of the show's title. "That one sort of wrapped everything in a neat package. They all have their own themes.

"But I guess they're all about keeping my head on straight."

The show will run through Feb. 27. Frame of Mind is at 1520 Main St. For more information, call (803) 988-1065.

The Opposite of a Train, a multi-instrumental trio, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 701 Center for Contemporary Art. The performance is in conjunction with "Olympia," an installation by Gwylene Gallimard and Jean-Marie Mauclet.

The trio - Bill Carson (guitars, banjo, bicycle), Nathan Koci (accordion, brass, keyboards, metronome) and Ron Wiltrout (marimba, percussion) - will feature myriad composition techniques and styles. Thrown into the experimental sounding mix, according to a gallery release: Italian film scores, post-rock and Salvation Army band chorales.

701 CCA is at 701 Whaley St.

The Columbia City Ballet will re-stage its production of "Cleopatra" Friday and Saturday at the Koger Center. Regina Willoughby will dance the role of Cleopatra. She will be joined in featured roles by Peter Kozak as Julius Caesar and Mark Krieger as Marc Anthony.

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Koger Center is at 1051 Greene St. $11 to $46; (803) 251-2222

The second installment of "REEL Black Pix: Global Afrikan Film Series" will be held Friday through Sunday at the Columbia Museum of Art and Nickelodeon Theatre.

The series opens at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the museum of art with music by Evolutionary Soul and highlights of "The Language You Cry In," a Gullah-themed documentary that will be screened.

The second day opens at 11 a.m. at the museum. Included in the screenings: "The Black Candle," a feature film about Kwanzaa and "Talking HIV in Jamaica," the Emmy award-winning film narrated by USC professor Kwame Dawes. On Saturday night, the series will move to the Nickelodeon, where there will be a Bob Marley birthday celebration.

The final day, which begins at 1 p.m. at the museum, will feature children's and foreign films.

For more information, visit http://www.hetepu.webs.com or call (803) 691-0545.

An exhibition of stamps is exciting to a select few collectors. But how about a show where artists create stamps from their, well, art? For "StampInArt," local artists have produced postage stamps. The exhibition, which opens Tuesday at 300 Senate, will include the art that inspired the stamps.

Participating artists include: Bonnie Goldberg, Andy Corley, Roy Pascal, Pat Saad, Marcia Murray, Ingrid Carson, Michel McNinch, Faye Meetze, Alisha Leeke, Bettye Rivers, Glenda Keyes and Allen Marshall.

The artists will ceremoniously stamp envelopes between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday, with a reception 6 to 8 p.m..

300 Senate is at 300 Senate St.

Jocelyn Chateauvert will debut "Within and Out," an installation of suspended handmade paper constructions at 701 Center for Contemporary Art today. There will be an opening reception 3 to 5 p.m.

Chateauvert, who also makes jewelry, has been hand making paper art for 20 years.

Admission to the reception is free for 701 CCA members, and there is a suggested donation of $5 for nonmembers.

701 CCA is at 701 Whaley. Gallery hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Friday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Information: http://701cca.org.