In this time of endless blubbering by pundits and politicians, itย’s very clear that talk is cheap. But not everyone wants to add to the din, so a group of local urban artists decided they would shut up and paint, letting their art do their talking for them. The result is ย“Talk Is Cheap,ย” a collection of outsider art that includes dirty, street and psychedelic art, mixed-media pieces and graffiti-inspired work.

Shizoq & Heidi, longtime art partners, present vibrant, deeply saturated acrylic paintings with phrases scattered among the images. Shizoq includes short phrases such as ย“Point to your soulย” and ย“Join the crowdย” overlaying abstract images, while Heidi writes ย“Think about your future, the ideal oneย” and ย“Itย’s all your faultย…you prayed for it, you got itย” across an oversize thumb. Both clearly get their messages across.

Other participating artists include Solomon Kane (who won the Houston Press Readerย’s Choice award for Best Artist 2007), Derek Shumate, Jeanette Degollado, melinda mosheim (who also curated) and Tra Slaughter. Todayย’s opening reception is from 9 to 11 p.m. Regular viewing hours are noon to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and noon to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Through May 1. premiumgoods, 2416 Times Boulevard. For information, call 713-839-0281 or visit www.premiumgoods.net. Free.

Mondays-Saturdays. Starts: Nov. 8. Continues through May 1, 2008

This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2008.