The jazz radio station WDNA is an institution that should make Miamians proud. The oldest public radio station in town (it was licensed in 1977), WDNA continues to bring serious and seriously good jazz, Latin jazz and world music (it has Indian and Afro-pop hours) to our airwaves. Now, currently in the studio space on a funky stretch of Coral Way, WDNA is also playing host to a solo exhibit from Ruben Millares, whose video and performance work might be the most familiar to local audiences, with pieces in Knight Arts granteeMuseum of Contemporary Art‘s Optic Nerve film fest and the Margulies Collection. Here, Millares has included a mix of ink drawings, video and mobile sculpture for the fascinating “Man or War” exhibit.

The drawings most easily relate to the title of the show, dozens of paper works with black images of creatures akin to those poisonous man of wars that live in our seas, but also suggest helmeted soldiers, specifically that World War I helmet that has such a powerful association with the horrific results of man-made warfare. Underneath each drawing “Man or War” is written. The artist says this is a statement and not a question — one will win. “We are waging war on many fronts.  Against the environment, ourselves, time. I am very interested in balance as a concept and how it is necessary in all things,” he says.

However, the most mesmerizing pieces are the hanging mobiles. Made from oyster shells and found bits and pieces of metal, they are perfectly balanced — if only, they say, we could be in such a state with our surroundings. Mimicking a man of war when in the ocean, Millares also filmed one of the mobiles floating in the water, tendrils hanging down. That makes up part of the video installation covering a back corner. “By incorporating man-made and natural materials in juxtaposition, he highlights the fragility of both,” according to the notes. “The multisensory environment invites the viewer into an alternate reality where normal spatial constraints disappear.”

Stopping by to check out this interesting exhibit off the Wynwood path that will give you the chance to also get in tune with WDNA and the various events it is involved with (hint, it has a Jazz on Film night).

“Man or War” at the WDNA Gallery, 2921 Coral Way, Miami; www.rubenmillares.com; www.wdna.org.