“Morris Chackas: Still Lives 1973-1982”

The paintings featured in “Morris Chackas: Still Lives 1973-1982,” like the artist’s life, are quietly unusual. Upon return from World War II, the reclusive Marxist set up a studio in a shed in Oxford, England. The solitary nature of his existence is evidenced by the fact that after his death in 2000, hundreds of never-before-seen pieces were discovered in his makeshift workspace. (His solo gallery shows were limited to the late 1960s and early ‘70s.) It’s a shame these works were hidden away for so long — Chackas’s serene depictions of everyday objects like pitchers and vases intrigue with their stilted spatial arrangements. The artist once said he was inspired by a cave drawing of a deer that existed in an “odd reality”; he succeeds in conjuring his own alternate plane, where a simple set of warm-colored teacups arranged on a spare brown table can captivate you. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday or by appointment. Optical Project, 1125 East 11th Street. For information, call 713-863-7112. Free.

Sat., March 7, 12-5 p.m., 2009

This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2009.