WILSHIRE CENTER

James Higginson’s thing is shields. Steadfastly sticking to the same basic shape, he presents them in varying numbers, sizes and configurations. He plans massive installations of big shields on the beach and makes itsy-bitsy small shield tableaux for the home. He paints ‘em, poses ‘em and, well, hell--the shield is his 40 acres and a mule, and durn it, he’ll work it till it comes up green!

A graduate of Art Center, Higginson makes his living doing art direction for television and turns out this impossibly dry, theoretical art in his spare time. Higginson comments that “through the use of color, anthropomorphic design, and spatial proximity, the shields reflect human interactions such as camaraderie and aggression.” Well OK, sure, sounds like art to me. (Eliat Gordin, 644 N. Robertson Blvd., to Aug. 5).