Lonely Hearts

The effects of chronic loneliness can include depression, poor sleep quality, alcoholism and heart disease. Like smoking, it might make you look like a really cool lone wolf, but according to doctors, it’s eventually going to kill you dead. Alleviate lethal, unwanted solitude at the Paragraph Gallery (23 East 12th Street) during the opening of Community + Loneliness, an artistic exploration of the human desire for community and the social traits that prevent it. A 6 p.m. reception includes an exhibition introduction by curator Angela Lopez at 6:30 and live performances throughout the evening by Charlie Mylie and Drew Roth. Included are works by collage artist Michael Lopez; painters Amy Casey, Peregrine Honig, Amy Kligman and Anne Pearce; and photographer Jaimie Warren. On Saturday, the show’s second appendage, a spoken-word program called “Voices of Community + Loneliness,” kicks off at 1 p.m. with “Status Update,” written by Gina Kaufmann and performed by Kaufmann with Ron Megee, Rita Brinkerhoff and others. For more information, see charlottestreet.org.

Thursdays, Saturdays, 12-5 p.m. Starts: May 27. Continues through June 26, 2010