Chris Chernow, “Quietude” (Studio Gallery)

HUSHED PICTURES BY CHRIS CHERNOW SET THE TONE for most, but not all, of the exhibitions now at Studio Gallery. The local artist’s “Stillness in the Noise” is a series of soft renderings of women -- sometimes nude, usually alone, and in a serene mood. Similarly tranquil are Cristy West’s mixed-media abstractions, Jo Levine’s closeup nature photos, and a few elegant, earth-toned ceramics by Lisa Battle. Elizabeth Curren disrupts the consensus, however, with topical commentaries made of cut paper and lots of words.

Chernow’s show, curated by Adah Rose Bitterbaum, is divided between paintings and drawings. The former are gauzy oils while the latter employ some mix of charcoal, pencil, acrylic ink, watercolor, and water-soluble graphite. The two series are equally deft and entirely compatible, linked by subject matter as well as style. The effect of the thinned oil paint is quite similar to that of the streaky pigments that turn the drawings into almost-paintings. Both varieties are also linked by a similar palette, heavy on brown, grayish green, and peachy flesh tones.

The women in these pictures are solitary, save for three groupings of three each, two sets of which depict poses that suggest dancing. Aside from one picture with a near-black backdrop, the subjects and their surroundings are so similarly hued that boundaries between them blur. These women are alone, but not alienated. Indeed, Chernow’s color schemes suggest that fitting into your environment is essential to finding moments of peace.