About

RF Alvarez’s solo exhibition I Was Only Here A Little While explores the interconnected and disparate lives of strangers. Alvarez contrasts earnest colored pencil drawings with diaristic musings against large-scale monochromatic paintings of crowds as they gather in restaurants, clubs, and other spaces in an investigation of public and private personas. With titles alluding to Greek epics and myths, Alvarez’s scenes act as allegories to larger themes of identity, community and purpose.

“It’s not the lovers I dream about, not the dinners with friends, the waiters dropping off glasses of wine. …