Galleries

Reviews by Holly Myers (H.M.)and Leah Ollman (L.O.). Compiled by Grace Krilanovich.

Critics’ Choices

Group Show: Text Works Words are strange, slippery little things, and there is a particular, sometimes perverse, satisfaction in watching visual artists pull them apart to see what they’re made of. With works dating from the late 1960s through the 1990s, this small but thoughtfully assembled show is a reminder of how rich and beguiling a vein text-based art remains (H.M.). Norma Desmond Productions, 2654 La Cienega Ave., L.A.; ends Jan. 12. (310) 280-0833.

Lauren Bon: Bees and Meat The material remains of Bon’s 2005 “Not a Cornfield” project, created in an abandoned rail yard just east of Chinatown, have resurfaced in the considerably tonier milieu of Ace Gallery, along with a body of new work that grew out of that project. It is a peculiar fit: Bon’s organic materials, ritualized methods and communitarian ethos in the elegant but cool environment of the gallery. It underscores, however, a quality that’s lost in her larger public projects: an urbane sort of formalism, with equally cool architectural tendencies and a highly focused emphasis on materials (H.M.). Ace Gallery, 5514 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor, L.A. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends Jan. 20. (323) 935-4411.

Adrià Julià: A Means of Passing the Time The basic elements of Julià’s terrific film could hardly be simpler: one camera and two male performers, each addressing the camera in ambiguous monologues. The conceptual underpinnings of the work relate to the culture of the military, the nature of place, the function of spectacle, and the history of folk theater traditions, among other things, but what makes it really riveting is the sheer magic of performance itself, which Julià’s disjunctive editing distills beautifully (H.M.). LAXART, 2640 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends Jan. 5. (323) 951-9790.

Richard Deacon The British sculptor’s latest feat in oak and stainless steel rises, dips, twists and turns like a roller coaster 28 feet down the length of the gallery. With “Dead Leg,” Deacon crafts poetry in the space where the organic and mechanical meet, where the spontaneity of the body partners with the restrained vigor of the industrial (L.O.). LA Louver, 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends Jan. 12. (310) 822-4955.

Barbara T. Smith: Remnants: Artworks From 1965-1972 In its original form, Smith’s 1968/71 “Field Piece” involved 180 translucent resin blades, all 9 1/2 feet tall and about the diameter of a sturdy aspen, that lit up in a variety of colors when a viewer moved between them. Given how enchanting the piece is now, reassembled at the Box with only 16 blades, 180 must have been a veritable wonderland – as indeed it appears to have been judging from all the happy naked people tangled up in it in photographs on display from that era (H.M.). The Box, 977 Chung King Road , L.A.; ends Jan. 5. (213) 625-1747.