Galleries

Reviews by Holly Myers (H.M.) and David Pagel (D.P.). Compiled by Grace Krilanovich.

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., second floor, L.A. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends next Sun. (323) 935-4411.

Matthew Barney: Drawing From Guardian of the Veil Like P.T. Barnum, Salvador Dali, Muhammad Ali and the Cirque du Soleil, Barney is not known for understatement. His page-size drawings, medium-size photographs and videotape of a summer performance go back to the basics, revealing that what is basic to Barney is mind-blowing to the rest of us: a fearless sort of scrambled pageantry that plays fast and loose with history and myth to suggest that everyday reality is so dense with significance that we are all fools for accepting ready-made stories and not making up our own – as wild and weird as is necessary to let our imaginations live fully and freely. It’s enough to make world-weary urbanites shudder – or shriek with delight at the vitality of Barney’s imagination (D.P.). Regen Projects, 633 N. Almont Drive, West Hollywood. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends next Sun. (310) 276-5424.

Tony DeLap and The Rev. Ethan Acres In the United States, there are few objects more potent – or loaded with metaphor – than motors from Detroit’s heyday. Tapping into that passion for freedom, adventure and the ups and downs of the open road, the Rev. Ethan Acres makes art a matter of redemption. Like every good parable, his 350-cubic-inch Chevy engine made of stained glass drives viewers out of everyday habits and toward something bigger and better and beyond anything expected (D.P.). Patricia Faure Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; ends Sat. (310) 449-1479.

Utopias: Robert Olsen & Adam Ross This unexpected juxtaposition of Olsen’s realistic pictures of the urban landscape at night and Adam Ross’ abstract paintings of fractured space is flat-out inspired: It makes the rock-solid compositions by the L.A. painters even more captivating than they are on their own (D.P.). Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, 5795 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and by appointment; ends Jan. 26. (323) 933-2117.

Group Show: Pavement Paradise: American Parking Space This matter-of-fact exhibition transforms a simple subject into a thought-provoking meditation on what it means to live in an increasingly crowded world. Although there is not a single work of art on display, “Pavement Paradise” does art’s job efficiently and with significantly less to-do than usual (D.P.). The Center for Land Use Interpretation, 9331 Venice Blvd., Culver City. Today-next Sun.; indefinitely. (310) 839-5722.

Alison Jackson: Confidential Like most jokes, Jackson’s photographs have a fairly short shelf life. The best place to see them is on the Internet or in attachments to e-mails sent by friends who share your taste for newsy humor and celebrity misadventure. In a gallery, the superficial silliness of Jackson’s staged pictures of anonymous actors masquerading as movie stars, politicians and musicians is swamped by an overblown sense of seriousness, especially when they are enlarged to the size of posters and set in designer frames. At best, Jackson’s photographs are as forgettable as the escapades of this season’s celebrities. At worst, they play into a sort of passive-aggressive voyeurism that rewards the least attractive aspects of contemporary culture (D.P.). M+B, 612 N. Almont Drive, L.A. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; ends Jan. 26. (310) 550-0050.