WILSHIRE CENTER

A Tennessee native now living in New York, Ed Rainey creates complex paintings based on the simple difference between objective and non-objective form. A recurring cantilever motif acts as an anchor for Cy Twombly-esque calligraphies, Jasper Johns-like targets and stenciled animal outlines that appear to have been drawn from dog- and cattle-breeding manuals. Real life objectivity is transformed into a sort of abstract blueprint. Sounds like a recipe for conceptual overkill but Rainey injects enough humor to instill emotive resonance.

Also on display are a series of photo-and-text narratives by Ilene Segalove. Well known for her work in radio and video, Segalove is an admitted TV addict, and this series of personal reminiscences has as much to do with nostalgia and history as autobiography.

A group of framed wall texts describing grade school and summer camp incidents seem more concerned with visual spectacle than actually disclosing the adolescent secrets one might expect. Similarly, images of A-bomb shelters from the 1950s evoke less a feeling of nuclear threat than comfortable nostalgia for an innocent era long dead. Art, like television, provides a comfortable cushion against everyday neurosis, removing anxiety in much the same way that Tide washes out stubborn stains. (Saxon-Lee Gallery, 7525 Beverly Blvd., to Nov. 14.)