If you feel sometimes that the modern world is driving you to distraction, perhaps you ought to try driving  yourself to abstraction as an antidote.

Drive down to the Sonoma State Unversity Art Gallery on campus in Rohnert Park to see “Absence/Presence: Contemporary Abstraction,” the new exhibit opening  Thursday, Nov. 3.

The show features paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and photographs created over the past decades by 21 regional, national and internationally recognized artists.

The show runs through Dec. 11. Hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free. Information: 664-2295, sonoma.edu.

The University Library Art Gallery is also hosting a show of Sonoma County abstract artists, opening  Nov. 17.