HOLLYWOOD

Manet is credited with being the first painter to give black its full value as a color, but L.A. artist Michael Roberts is a worthy successor to the title. Though Roberts’ understanding of the potential of the non-color black owes a debt to Manet, the central influence in these meditative geometric abstractions is clearly Mark Rothko. As in work by the late contemporary master, Roberts’ paintings resonate with quiet spirituality.

Working with the basic format of a horizontal rectangle that is divided into three wide vertical bars, Roberts invites the viewer to fall into a central bar of black that appears to pulsate with light. Floating on a monochromatic field of muted color--steel blue, plum or mustard--the band of black reads like a doorway into the void. Close examination of the flanking bands of color reveals them to involve a wide range of colors that have been subtly blended to create the impression of a single shade. Glowing with the soft luster of watersilk, the colored areas serve as an ideal foil for those imposing black monoliths. (Newspace, 5241 Melrose Ave., to Feb. 28.)