Installation (447 5th Ave.) is exhibiting a...

Installation (447 5th Ave.) is exhibiting a work by San Diego-based artist David Keevil.

Entitled “Charlie’s Dream,” it is one of the more successful of the gallery’s recent efforts.

The exhibit establishes a powerful mood through a combination of objects, low lighting and sound. One of its strengths is its suggestibility, its openness to interpretation. But the artist’s meaning is fugitive, despite the press release’s claim that “Charlie’s Dream” is an installation about a person’s self-control. Only the informed comments of associate Installation director Carolyn Bush finally threw some light on Keevil’s intent: It is the story of Charlie’s failed marriage.

Immediately after entering the space, one must climb over a barrier, a gray wooden structure supporting a very high chair, which from some distance might be interpreted as a phallic form. It appears to be too insubstantial for ascent.

In the right-hand corner stands a black, textured, even bristly form, which is ambiguously a ball gown or a nightmare monster. It could also be read as an inverted vessel or receptacle.

Overhead in the dusky reaches of the space hangs a huge cyclone form beautifully constructed of chicken wire. Its cone emerges from the mouth of a remarkable pink dog in the smaller back room. You can tell it’s a male dog because of its electric light sex organ.

Minimal texts appear on the walls--”JUST THIS,” near the front of the front space; “THIS,” near the female form, and “AND ALL THIS,” near the pink dog. Minimal texts also are to be heard with a variety of sounds on a tape--”I wonder about all this,” accompanied by the barking of a dog; “I think about just this,” accompanied by children’s voices, and “I remember this,” with the sound of surf, breaking glass, a crash and a music box.

It is, indeed, a spooky installation, so go to be spooked.

It is a very strong and memorable piece. And a mystery.

The exhibition is the latest in what appears to be a continuing series by recent master of fine arts graduates of UC San Diego. There surely must be other sources of worthy artists that Installation might draw upon. Incest is always a problem in the art world, but incest is not always best, even when the faculty is as distinguished and the students are as talented as those at UCSD.

The exhibition continues through Jan. 2.

The nearby Gallery of Weird New Art (18 Gaslamp Court, at 739 5th Ave.) is exhibiting wall sculptures and drawings by Christopher C. Canole.

The wall pieces contrast the rectilinearity of fiber-wrapped hurricane fence sections with the organic forms of gnarled, naturally interwoven ivy vines and thick rope. The skillfully executed, grotesque representational drawings are full of romantic Angst .

Although the artist, who has had a notable exhibition history, may be considered to be at the mid-stage of his career, the vision seems immature.

The exhibition continues through Dec. 27.

Spectrum Gallery (744 G St.) is, as usual, exhibiting the works of two artists.

E. Mona Runkle’s casein paintings with nautilus and other aquatic images are pleasantly decorative.

Al Holgerson’s ceramic and fiber glass black, abstract forms are elegant. His figurative bronzes seem out of place with them.

The exhibition continues through Dec. 27.

Informed art reviewers are skeptical about gallery press packets that include photographs of artists instead of their works. The implication is that the public should be interested in the exhibition primarily because of the personality (and even appearance), and only secondarily because of the work. Such has been the case with Salvador Dali for decades.

Such also seems to be the case with the artists represented by Hanson Art Galleries of La Jolla (1227 Prospect St.), including Colleen Ross, whose works are now on view at the elegant space.

Ross paints women, almost all of whom gaze directly, seductively, at you because, as the artist has said: “The eyes say who you really are.” They look like yuppie call girls.

Ross is cuter than LeRoy Neiman. She is also a better painter. She knows how to use paint, she has a fine color sense, she can draw, and she is sensitive to the effects of light. It might be interesting to see her apply her technical skills to more substantial subject matter.

“She basically knows what she’s doing,” an artist friend commented, “but she looks like a painter who’s never been pushed.”

The most intriguing work is “White Gardenia,” perhaps because the subject is not looking straight at you.

The exhibition continues through next Friday.