November Art Openings at Notsuoh
Aliza Bejarano — Working in America
August Lewis — Escape to the Blue World
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 5, 2026 | 7:30 PM
Come meet the artists & see their new work!
Musical Performance by The Orange Weekend, Followed by DJ Horizon in the Dome
Notsuoh welcomes two new exhibitions opening Thursday, November 5, featuring the work of Houston-based artists Aliza Bejarano and August Lewis.
Bejarano's colorful paintings will be on view in the third-floor gallery, while Lewis transforms the mezzanine with fantastical paintings and works on paper exploring an imaginary world of mystery, magic, and longing.
The exhibitions offer two distinct artistic perspectives, both using vivid color, imaginative imagery, and elements of magical realism to explore the human experience.
Both exhibitions will remain on view through December 5 and can be visited during Notsuoh's regular open hours. Work by both artists will be available for purchase.
The opening reception begins at 7:30 PM on Thursday, November 5, followed by DJ sets from Horizon upstairs in the dome.
Aliza Bejarano
Working in America
Third-Floor Gallery
Working in America explores the physical and emotional realities of labor through personal experience, family history, and scenes of everyday American life. The exhibition examines the exhaustion, uncertainty, and sacrifices woven into the American experience.
Through vivid color and magical realism, Bejarano captures the tension between survival and the longing for something more, while celebrating the resilience, humanity, and community we find in one another despite it all.
Her paintings bring emotional depth and imaginative color to familiar experiences, inviting viewers to consider the relationship between work, identity, survival, and our connections to one another.
About the Artist
Aliza J. Bejarano is a Houston-based visual artist and arts professional with over 20 years of experience as an artist, curator, project manager, marketing director, educator, arts initiative founder, and board member. She has produced, curated, coordinated, and participated in more than 100 exhibitions, markets, and creative events, with a focus on creating experiences that connect people, places, and opportunities.
She earned her BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach, and began her career in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, where she was mentored by some of the city's most influential artists, critics, and curators.
Her artistic practice explores the intersections of identity, labor, community, and the human experience through vivid color, dramatic light, and evocative imagery. Whether through painting, exhibition-making, or community programming, her work seeks to transform spaces, spark conversation, and create meaningful connections between art and everyday life.
August Lewis
Escape to the Blue World
Mezzanine Gallery
Escape to the Blue World is an exhibition by August Lewis showcasing a mysterious, mystical domain of danger and whimsy.
These narrative pieces draw the traveler into the realm of the Pierrot, the Jester Woman, the Unicorn, and more, creating a rich journey through a world of blue. Leave the Earth behind and traverse floating islands, deep forests, impossible castles, and alien landscapes. Step carefully, for once you're there, you may never return.
The exhibition features acrylic paintings on canvas and mixed media works on paper.
At the heart of this body of work is Lewis's fascination with blue hour, the time just before sunrise and just after sunset when the atmosphere scatters the last echoes of sunlight, creating an otherworldly blue across the sky.
Seven months of daily observation of this phenomenon became the foundation for Escape to the Blue World. The resulting paintings explore the sensation of entering another world, one filled with magic, mystery, and the unshakable longing of dreams too big to hold.
Artist Statement — August Lewis
"When words fail, I paint. I treasure the unique way that a painting speaks without language. I trust my paintings to say the things I cannot, to carry the burden of communicating a feeling, a moment in time, a narrative, an unspoken confession. Art is my secret language, and I am constantly pursuing fluency.
My primary medium is acrylic on canvas, and at this moment I am fascinated with blue hour, the time of day just before sunrise and just after sunset when the atmosphere scatters the echoes of sunlight, casting an otherworldly symphony of blue like a lightshow over the sky.
Seven months of daily observation of this phenomenon provided a tunnel into the heart of my exhibition, Escape to the Blue World. Visions from this fantastical realm will be showing at Notsuoh on November 5th. This body of work delves into the feeling of being in another world, a world full of magic, mystery, and the unshakable longing of dreams too big to hold."
Opening Reception & Exhibition Details
Thursday, November 5, 2026 — 7:30 PM
Join us at Notsuoh for the opening of both exhibitions. Visitors are invited to explore the third-floor gallery and mezzanine, spend time with the work, and celebrate the artists.
Following the openings, Horizon will be playing DJ sets upstairs in the dome.
Both exhibitions will be on view through December 5 during regular open hours, with artwork available for purchase directly from the artists.
Notsuoh — 314 Main Street, Houston, Texas