GALLERIES

Reviews by Christopher Knight (C.K.), Sharon Mizota (S.M.), David Pagel (D.P.) and Leah Ollman (L.O.). Compiled by Grace Krilanovich.

Critics’ Choices

Ben Sakoguchi To call an artwork a one-liner is to dismiss it. But what happens when you string a bunch of one-liners together, somewhat obsessively? You might come up with something approaching a worldview. An engaging mini-retrospective paints a much broader picture of Sakoguchi’s subversive thinking (S.M.). Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art, 8568 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Tue.Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends April 21. (310) 815-1100.

Natalie Bookchin A murmuring 18channel video installation is an affecting meditation on perceptions of race, specifically concerning African American men. The subject is socially, politically and emotionally fraught, and its charged complexity is prone to artistic treatments that are rote or sentimental. Bookchin deftly avoids those traps (C.K.). LACE Gallery, 6522 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; ends April 15. (323) 957-1777.

Phil Chang By blurring the line between making and exhibiting, Chang’s enigmatic show reminds us, quite starkly, that the conditions under which we look at art largely determine what we see, and whether we recognize it as art at all (S.M.). LAXART, 2640 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. Tue.-sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends April 14. (310) 559-0166. Claire Falkenstein: An Expansive Universe Throughout the show, the sense of discovery is palpable. It matches the ethos of fearless experimentation that Falkenstein embraced as she hopscotched among media, finding surprises and laying the groundwork for such contemporary artists as Liz Larner and Pae White (D.P.). Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 357 N. La Brea Ave., L.A. Tue.-fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; ends April 28. (323) 938-5222. Requiem for the Sun: The Art of the Mono-ha The arrangements of objects draw upon the unique physicality of each material, playing up contrasts and dialectical relationships — light and heavy; solid and hollow; hard and soft; organic and industrial — with a precision that gives them the feel of 3-D koans (S.M.). Blum & Poe, 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. Tue.-sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends April 14. (310) 836-2062.

Robin Rhode It may be tempting to lump Rhode in with other artists who document physical performances, but his work is another species entirely. Each image is carefully staged for the camera. The resulting sequences suggest a combination of live action and animation, a space somewhere in between the reality we inhabit and the one we imagine (S.M.). L&M Arts, 660 Venice Blvd., Venice. Tue.-sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; ends April 21. (310) 821-6400.

Continuing

Clay’s Tectonic Shift: John Mason, Ken Price and Peter Voulkos, 1956

1968 Its conception of the “tectonic shift” is too narrow. The show essentially proposes that two things happened to make the revolution: Function was out and abstraction was in. Somehow that turned ceramics into sculptures (C.K.). Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont. Wed.Sun., 1-5 p.m.; ends next Sun. (909) 607-3397.

Ellsworth Kelly The exhibition inside of Kelly’s recent abstract paintings is not that exciting, but a 1966 painting—a black bar on top of a white rectangle—turns the building into something of a painting itself. (S.M.) Matthew Marks, 1062 N. Orange Grove, Los Angeles. Tue-sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends Sat. (323) 6541830.

Jocelyn Foye The artist adds to a growing interest in cross-disciplinary collaboration with charcoal drawings created by dancers accompanied by an opera singer. The drawings and recorded soundtrack on view convey a vaguely funereal air, but don’t really tell us enough about the remarkable conditions of their creation (S.M.). Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Tue.-sun., noon-5 p.m.; ends May 13. (626) 7925101.

Ali Smith: Flip Side Digital technology may not have killed off collage, but software like Photoshop has made the art of cut-and-pasted paper look very last century. At Mark Moore Gallery, Smith’s new paintings gaze back at collage with fondness and purpose

(D.P.). Mark Moore Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Tue.Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; ends Sat. (310) 453-3031. Group Show: Breaking in Two, Visions of Motherhood There is much here about holding on and letting go, the intimate beauties and universal vexations of motherhood, the density and palpability of time as experienced by one generation reflecting upon another. Artists can be mothers, of course, but the reverse isn’t possible, according to a poem here by Amy Shimshon Santo: “a mother/can’t become/an artist/because/she already is one” (L.O.). Arena 1 Gallery, 3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. Wed.-sat., noon-6 p.m.; ends April 14. (310) 3977456.