The Lyceum (79 Horton Plaza) is again...

The Lyceum (79 Horton Plaza) is again presenting an exhibit in conjunction with a play. Recently, quilts decorated the otherwise-barren lobby space during the run of “Quilters.” Now, works by San Diego area women artists have been installed for the run of “Top Girls.”

“We are indeed thrilled to begin what we hope to be a long tradition in the Lyceum--unique exhibits which will echo or illuminate the themes of our plays, which in turn presents the opportunity for more artistic and community involvement,” said Sam Woodhouse, producing director for San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Curator was Jacqueline Malt of the Center for Women’s Studies and Services, which is co-sponsoring the exhibit with the Rep.

The outstanding work is Joyce Cutler-Shaw’s “Wingwall: Migration III,” a vast installation of paper collage parts in the form of birds’ wings. Placed in the most disadvantageous area of the Lyceum lower lobby, which is divided by a suspended walkway, the work nevertheless authoritatively takes possession of the space. The quality of its presence is all the more notable because of the works’ monochromatism and lyricism. The piece expresses Cutler-Shaw’s ongoing concern for world harmony and survival in an ongoing pantheistic hymn.

Anne Mudge’s nearby “Bridal Chamber,” a bamboo and fabric Chinese-like structure hanging in a well between floors, fails because it does not hold the space. Gail Roberts’ very strong “Bouquet,” made of painted flowers and kitchen utensils, is not given a chance to hold a space because it is hidden, offensively so, in a corner by an exit. Reesey Shaw’s subtle and beautiful untitled encaustic wall relief is also disadvantageously installed on a short wall without proper lighting.

Marjorie Nodelman’s “Landscape,” an 8-foot tondo of trucks disappearing into the sunset, is a dynamite painting.

Viki Vogt-Cole’s “Beyond Repooch,” featuring a group of dogs looking at a painting of dog prints, is cute but not exhibitable in an art show. Audi Lawson’s “Show Biz,” made of copper tubing, is not exhibitable under any circumstances.

The intent of the show is laudable. Its execution is not. The basic problem is amateurism in the selection of artists. Where in heaven’s name are Martha Alf, Janet Cooling, Gillian Theobald, Suda House, Christine Oatman, to name only a few of the women artists who live in San Diego and have national, even international, reputations? (Lynn Schuette, who has made brilliant installations, withdrew because of a prior commitment.)

Certainly, the Lyceum’s exhibition program should continue, but San Diego Rep would do well to seek professional assistance from area museums and galleries. It’s a great opportunity for a cooperative effort of significance.

The faux pas continues through Sept. 13.

The Atheneum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla (1008 Wall St.) is showing a series of new black-and-white photographs by Susan Blanchard, entitled pretentiously “Places for the Soul.” At most, they are places to sit and rest and maybe daydream.

Many of the images feature benches and chairs--which the artist appreciates as works of art in their own right--architectonic structures either contrasting with or complementary to their environments, both public and private, interior and exterior, in England, Wales and the United States.

Several are more than engaging. Nothing could be ostensibly more commonplace than a cement bench in the arboretum in Golden Gate Park, but Blanchard skillfully exploits the elegant solidity of its form against a background of elaborate foliage and the contrasting minimal regularity of a white, diagonally slatted barrier.

Then there is the humor of a group of aluminum chairs on a lawn in Yorkshire that seem to be curtsying to one another or gathered in a balletic formation. The image of an iron chair, also in Yorkshire, is a tour de force of planar ambiguity. A simple scene of what appears to be a summer residence in Rockport, Mass., has the feel of being a special place, a place with character, maybe even soul. And there are others that are equally handsome and interesting.

There are a few, however, that either don’t work (Huntingdon Gardens, Pasadena) or look contrived (Chesterfield, England). Finally, several images tilting down to the viewer’s right may be correct as documentation, but they are wrong as art.

The exhibit continues through Aug. 29.