Axis of upheaval

It’s smack dab in between the holidays and you’re looking for a change of view. Duck into 1517 19th Street and check out some work by Axis Gallery’s two 2006 competition winners. Let Hannah Henry’s “Intimate Strange II,” 15 individual images in inkjet prints with epoxy resin, pique your curiosity. Some faces are blurred, as if looking through glass blocks or through the rain. The faces, the images of hands clasped in a lap, are all familiar, but they belong to strangers, like those we’d see in a fleeting instant as they passed by on the Regional Transit. It’s hard not to keep staring.

Jenny Freestone’s two-stone lithograph, “From Siem Reap 2,” controls your eyes with a circular movement, illuminating vegetation with light and textural nuances. When this year ends, so does this show. Call (916) 443-9900 for more information.