ART ON ALABAMA A gallery grows in Montrose by Tim Brookover

Even on a sullen Houston afternoon, light floods the gallery. Paintings and works on paper cover the walls and hang on vertical wooden racks. The street din from West Alabama seems distant, subdued.

Matthew Kiernan and Travis Rhodes opened the storefront art space that bears their combined names in January. Their Matthew Travis Gallery will open its third exhibition on March 29 with gay Houston artist Alan Hurwitz ["8 Who Create," September OutSmart] and Dallas artist Steve Lawrence.

Besides serving as another showcase for art, Kiernan and Rhodes' new business is a tribute to a friend, Myra Aronson. When the partners still lived in New York, public-relations specialist Aronson worked with them to raise capital for a gallery. Then, Aronson died on American Airlines flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. In October, Kiernan learned that Aronson had left him the funding to open the gallery.

After the September 11 catastrophe, prospects dimmed for a start-up business in Manhattan. The partners decided to relocate to Houston, where Rhodes grew up. "We were struck by the budding art scene and the camaraderie among art dealers here," Rhodes says.

With their gallery (www.matthewtravisgallery.com) now open on West Alabama, Kiernan and Rhodes show work by a collection of artists from Texas and across the nation. "The work of our artists represents the endurance of American art in an unsettled time," Kiernan says.

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