Hot Latin

Every so often a gala Philadelphia charity event will adopt a "Latin" theme, which usually means a roomful of schlumpy society folks vainly trying to get down to the funky beat of a strolling maraca player. In other words, it means RUN AWAY. But you’d be missing something if you avoided "A Show of Hands," the annual art auction for the Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA), just because the theme is "Caliente! The Hottest Night in Town!" In this case, actual caliente-ness might well ensue. There’s the lineup of artists who have donated their work for the occasion, who include such hot commodities as Bo Bartlett, Susan Rothenberg, Alice Aycock, Stuart Netsky and Stuart Shils. There is, yes, a salsa band, but it’s the admirable Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas, a consortium of several established Latin-American performance groups. And then there’s the body paint. No, not a visit from the ubiquitous Peanut Butter, but models in body paint who, if the guy in the promo shot is any indication, look better thus adorned than anyone since Goldie Hawn in Laugh-In. Will the presence of all these painted hussies (makeup provided by MAC) heat up the bidding on all the other decorative objects? MANNA sure hopes so, because the organization itself is all about heat, or at least warmth — providing 1,500 hot meals each week (along with care and companionship) for homebound people and their families living with HIV and AIDS.

—David Warner

"A Show of Hands," Fri., May 18, 5 p.m., $50 (includes cocktail party as well a silent and live art auction), Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art and Design, 215-49-MANNA.