For the exhibit ย“Letย’s Light Up: Alexandre Rosa and Armita Pebdani,ย” Apama Mackey asked the artists to present images of smoking. Pebdaniย’s comics-influenced style is simple, with minimalist lines rendered with the aid of digital technology. In Smoking Suit, we see a woman in a scarlet suit with perfectly arched eyebrows, a puff of smoke leaving her pouting lips made stark by black lipstick. And Pebdaniย’s black-and-white illustration Lesbianoir shows two women enjoying a post-coital smoke.

In contrast, Rosa tells us most of his drawings, done in blue, deal with ย“the tension that happens before things or people actually ignite.ย” Rosaย’s Soldier depicts a freestanding soldier casually leaning against an invisible ledge; instead of a head, thereย’s a ball of wires with a lit cigarette hanging out of it. ย“Itย’s more about us looking at someoneย’s face while theyย’re smoking and wondering about what the person is thinking,ย” says Rosa. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today. Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Through October 9. Apama Mackey Gallery at the Redbud Gallery Annex, 303 East 11th Street. For information, visit www.apamamackeygallery.com. Free.

Wednesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 2. Continues through Oct. 9, 2010

This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2010.