LA CIENEGA AREA

Barns and houses are the predominant imagery in Marilyn Hagberg’s prismacolor drawings that bear a striking resemblance to architectural renderings. There is, however, something a bit more complex at the heart of her work which she describes as being about “the tension and harmony which develop between the hard-edge geometry of buildings and the sensuous, organic landscape.”

As in work by Grant Wood and Andrew Wyeth, there’s something staunchly American and vaguely mystical about Hagberg’s dreamy scenes. There are virtually no people in her pictures and there’s not much foliage either. Seen from a distance, her buildings have soft edges and are positioned in the center of the picture plane, framed by equal expanses of white earth and sky. Hagberg’s buildings seem to nestle into the surrounding landscape in such a way that their presence enhances the already existing natural order. Too bad it rarely works that way in real life.

Also on view are heavily impastoed oil on canvas abstractions by Stanley Boxer. Exhibiting his work internationally since the early 50’s, he is often called “a sculptor of paint.” An apt description, because he really trowels on the pigment. Using his fingers, brushes and a palette knife to create textures and patterns, Boxer functions in the same intensely emotive arena where Jackson Pollock hung his hat. (Ruth Bachofner, 804 N. La Cienega Blvd., to June 6.)