“Left Alone”

ArtStorm is picturing loneliness. The gallery’s latest exhibit, “Left Alone,” features photography focusing on isolation and introspection. Rachel Hewlett snaps her shutter just after someone flees the scene. “There’s a lot of remnants, sort of, a memory of a person being there,” says curator and ArtStorm co-founder Monte Large. “Whether it’s a cracked egg on the sidewalk or…something that is left behind that is a little bit lonely and a little bit stark.”

Ben Aqua is presenting his Invasion of Privacy series. “As Rachel’s are sort of void space, this is like maximized with junk and too much stuff, too much personality,” says Large. Aqua captures people in their various spaces — a woman making dinner in her tiny, brightly colored kitchen or an artist in a cat mask resting on her bed. “It’s a quirky, sort of hipster, very colorful look at people’s personal spaces,” says Large.

Austin photographer Mike Ruiz takes viewers along with him as he discovers his new home in Berlin. “He’s trying to figure out — through photography — his place there.” But Ruiz doesn’t offer an entire scene, only snippets — the corner of a building or the end of a sidewalk. Also featured in the show are works by Kristy Peet, David McClain and Jennifer L.F. McNichols. See how they get lonely at today’s opening reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Regular viewing hours are noon to 7 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Through September 13. 4828 Caroline. For information, call 713-568-8174 or visit www.artstormhouston.com. Free.
Saturdays, Sundays, 12-5 p.m. Starts: Aug. 16. Continues through Sept. 13, 2008