GALLERIES

Critics’ Choices

Harmony Hammond: Recent Paintings There is a private archaeology at work in these engrossing paintings, a stratification of action and reaction. The canvases, collaged with other fabrics and painted over in near-monochrome, are embedded with the physical memory of their making. Grommets pierce the fields, crisscrossing straps invoke restraint as well as protection, and bodily allusions abound. Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, 6006 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Ends Sat. Open Tue.-Sat. and by appointment. (310) 837-2117.

Toshio Shibata: Japanscapes Shibata studies places of contact, where we have altered the earth, and finds there opportunities for reflection, wonder, awe. Beauty, in his work, is inclusive, and purity a matter of compositional elegance rather than rarefied subject matter. Gallery Luisotti, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Ends Jan. 20. Open Tue.-Sat. (310) 453-0043.

Also recommended

Channing Hansen: Fluid Dynamics Hansen’s work has a ragged energy that appears spontaneous, but in making the knitted pieces that he stretches over frames, he is guided as to texture, color and pattern by computer algorithms. His methods are idiosyncratic, and the work can be inexhaustibly surprising. This show feels more temperate, less risky than his last here, but still has lots of verve. Marc Selwyn Fine Art, 9953 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. Ends Sat. Open Tue.-Sat. (310) 277-9953.