WHAT'S HAPPENING : ART.

A different point of view: The woman stands with her back toward us, gazing at a pristine section of Yosemite National Park. Before her lies a rugged mountain landscape of winter grays and browns. On her head is a gaudy souvenir scarf decorated with kitschy images of the very scenes that she so intently contemplates.

Full of understated irony, Roger Minick's photograph asks which is more real: nature, in all its glory, or the postcard pictures of nature that we carry around in our minds?

You'll find yourself pondering those and other points after viewing Minick's ``The Sightseer Series,'' on exhibition at Jan Kesner Gallery through April 12. Taken in the early 1980s, Minick's photographs evoke the romantic grandeur of the American West while also suggesting how national monuments (the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite) have been reduced to pop culture tokens.

Samples of his artistry can be found in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Jan Kesner Gallery is located at 164 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

classical

The voice of `Exiles and Emigres': Seldom has our far-flung metropolis seen an art show quite as sprawling as ``Exiles and Emigres: The Flight of European Artists From Hitler.'' More than a cloistered museum piece, this massive exhibition is an interactive, multimedia affair that extends far beyond the walls of the Los County Museum of Art. Tie-in programs have run the gamut from film screenings to concerts, cabaret, dance and architectural tours.

None of those categories alone can contain Constance Hauman, the remarkable talent who'll perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Schoenberg Hall on the UCLA campus. An internationally acclaimed soprano, she has stolen hearts as Cunegonde in Bernstein's ``Candide'' and fired libidos as the voluptuous femme fatale in Alban Berg's opera ``Lulu.''

Utilizing film clips from the Warner Bros. archive, Hauman will flesh out works by a dozen European composers (Kurt Weil, Ernst Toch, Arnold Schoenberg, Erich W. Korngold) forced to flee Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe.

Titled ``From Head to Toe, I'm Suited for Love'' (from Marlene Dietrich's routine in ``The Blue Angel''), Hauman's performance will be accompanied by William Vendice at the piano, with actress Christine Schnauber supplying the narration. Tickets are $15 and $30 and are available through the UCLA ticket office at [phone]. (P.S. The exhibition ends May 11.)

?13- Reed Johnson

film

Ready to rumble: Now you can see why ``When We Were Kings'' deserved to win the Documentary Feature Academy Award. Filmed more than two decades ago but only recently completed, this look at the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman championship fight in Zaire is as entertaining as it is fascinating.

While director Leon Gast covers a multitude of intriguing subjects - from the Pan-African music festival that accompanied the Rumble in the Jungle to the ruthlessness of Zairean strongman Mobutu, whose collapsing regime is once again in the news - the film's most mesmerizing sequences involve, of course, Ali at his sharpest and Foreman at his surliest. Those familiar with the two boxers' current personalities will be amazed at how much people can change in less than half a century.

Contemporary comments from the likes of Norman Mailer (who was there) and Spike Lee (who wasn't) put the whole cultural/media event in enlightening perspective. Ali, meanwhile, makes sure that nothing for a moment ever gets dull.

?13- Bob Strauss

dining

Cinema slurping: The giant movie marquee next door more than overshadows the quiet sign of Hatano, a consistently good, small Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Northridge.

Hatano, 19401 Parthenia St., is one of the few Japanese cafes that has a full dinner menu in addition to a sushi bar that stocks the most current of fresh fish available from both here and Japan.

Without pretensions, it happily serves some of the best noodle dishes in the North San Fernando Valley, primarily soba, udon and somen, and has a special ramen night every Thursday that packs the place regularly.

My particular favorite here has always been the simple tanuki soba bowl ($6.25) of steaming hot, flavored dashi (bonito broth) with tempura crust pieces on the side to sprinkle in, and Japanese hot pepper from a shaker for a touch of fiery seasoning.

The thin buckwheat soba noodles fill the bowl, and if you slurp when you eat them it is entirely understandable. Traditionally, soba cafes in Japan are renowned for a continuous cacophony created by satisfied soba slurpers.

Information: [phone].

?13- Larry Lipson

theater

A storyteller's tale: The Mark Taper Forum will present a free performance Thursday of ``Bocon,'' which tells the adventures of Miguel, a 10-year-old who flees from Central America to Los Angeles when his village is attacked by soldiers and his parents disappear.

The incidents cause the boy, a natural storyteller and big mouth - or bocon - to lose his voice. But his journey in silence takes on a different aspect when he befriends La Llorona, a legendary character in Mexican and Central American mythology.

The play, written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Timothy Douglas, has been touring schools under the Taper's Performing for Los Angeles Youth program. Thursday's free performance is part of the Center Theatre Group's 30th Anniversary Celebration Week.

The Taper is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. ``Bocon'' begins at 7:30 p.m. For reservations and more information, call [phone].

?13- Lori Moody

music

Spotlight on DJ Shadow:Working alone in his hometown near Sacramento, Josh Davis was influenced by the pioneering record production skills of Mantronik, Rick Rubin, the Bomb Squad and the Dust Brothers.

It took six months for the 24-year-old Davis to complete his acclaimed symphony of samples, ``Endtroducing ... DJ Shadow'' (Mo Wax/ffrr), released first in Britain where the music press worked itself into a lather over the clever use of artfully arranged found rhythms.

Vinyl junkie Davis, using the moniker DJ Shadow, layers snippets of mellow jazz-fusion, atmospheric sound effects, bits of classic rap records, rumbling bass lines and funky guitar parts, adding live drums to create something kind of new out of it all.

Davis appears tonight at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on a bill with loopy hip-hoppers De La Soul and straight-edge Brooklyn rapper Jeru the Damaga.

The youthful producer says he aims to tell a story with every track, starting with the title.

``There's a plot in every song,'' Davis said. ``There has to be a beginning, middle and end - not only on the tracks themselves, but in the album as a whole. The listener should be dropped off back at the apex a little wiser.''

The House of Blues is at 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Show time is 9 p.m. and tickets are $22.50. Information: [phone].

?13- Fred Shuster

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) ``Woman With Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park'' (1980) is one of the photographs from Roger Minick's ``The Sightseer Series,'' on display at the Jan Kesner Gallery through April 12.

(2) Kevin Sifuentes, left, and Armando Molino star in ``Bocon,'' which chronicles the adventures of a 10-year-old storyteller fleeing Central America for Los Angeles. A free performance will be given Thursday.

(3) Soprano Constance Hauman evokes the spirit of composers forced to flee Europe during World War II in the multimedia ``From Head to Toe, I'm Suited for Love,'' Sunday at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall.