DOWNTOWN

A 10-year survey of metal wall constructions by the late Steve Kingman reveals an austere sensibility that was in the process of opening into an exotically baroque bloom.

Incorporating sheets of aluminum, copper and steel which are welded, brazed, cut into geometric shapes, hammered into pleats and scrunched into bows, Kingman’s early pieces have the burnished glow of Byzantine religious art. The work gets progressively more flamboyant with the addition of generous dollops of vivid color, scalloped frames and increasingly complex three-dimensionality.

We now find metal strips curling off layered surfaces built of overlapping triangles, wire cord and metal pipe. At this point the work begins to move with the swaggering bravado of Frank Stella. Even when working at this accelerated speed, however, Kingman never lost control of his materials and his pieces remain as meticulously crafted as Faberge eggs. (Diodati Gallery, 4361 West 3rd St., to Aug. 10.)