Alexia Markarian’s recent paintings, on view at...

Alexia Markarian’s recent paintings, on view at the James Crumley Gallery at MiraCosta College (One Barnard Drive, Oceanside) through Feb. 25, employ the artificially vivid vocabulary of advertising in energetic but disturbing pastiches. Markarian concentrates on familiar representations of women, particularly those corresponding to stereotypical female roles. The women depicted here flash broad white smiles, whether posing seductively or demonstrating domestic efficiency.

Juxtaposed with these portraits of model exuberance are jarring images of violence and disaster. In “Graffiti,” a vivacious blonde in the foreground greets us with a glossy smile, oblivious to the bloodied man sprawled on the subway floor behind her and the aggressive graffiti to either side. In “Poised Before Disaster,” a bathing beauty posed in the style of outmoded calendar art coyly nuzzles her toes into the golden earth. Meanwhile, a house goes up in flames behind her.

Markarian, a local artist, reinforces her depictions of women as sex objects and housewives by pairing them with images of meat, snarling animals and domestic utensils. “Hamilton Beach Folly,” much like David Salle’s work in method and tone, combines three images. One portrays a picture-perfect 1950s housewife proudly lifting a frosted and decorated cake. One shows a woman, nude but for high heels and black stockings, kneeling on a bed and striking a pose reminiscent of a pornographic magazine. Overlaid on this second image is a line drawing of a hand operating an electric mixer. In this context, the appliance assumes a violent, offensive tone.

Like Salle, Markarian revels in this uneasy blend of eroticism and violence, and uses its horrifying implications in an artistic way. She handles paint brilliantly, rendering flesh as unnaturally vivid, and organizing forms for optimal dynamic effect. Though Markarian’s is a very engaging style, her work is ultimately more disturbing than enriching. She mocks the mass media’s systematic representation of women as objects of violence, sex and domestic use by exaggerating its own strategy of subliminal associations. But like Salle, Markarian capitalizes on this oppressive practice rather than undermining it, and her perpetuation of such tactics severely dampens the appeal of her work.

Natalie Bush, director of the former Natalie Bush Gallery, has curated a group of installations in the storefront windows of the Balboa Theater (4th Avenue and E Street). Unfortunately, of the five artists she selected, only two came up with projects compelling enough to stop the adjacent pedestrian traffic.

David Engbritson presents the most evocative, though simplest work. By painting all of the surfaces of his small allotted space white with regularly aligned black smears, he creates a unified, albeit contextless, environment. Two forms hang in the center of this space, one a hefty chunk of painted wood, and the other a figural form, also painted white with gray and slight touches of pink and pierced throughout with metal stakes. The installation, like much of Engbritson’s work, evokes a mysterious mix of purity and pain.

Larry Dumlao’s installation, “La Mesa,” also proves absorbing, with its carefully positioned clutter of bones, X-rays, mirrors and wooden planks. Each half of the installation contains a chair, facing an altar-like table. One of these supports objects of organic origin, such as feathers, shells and seed pods. The other holds military medals, a bullet and an enshrined can of beer, objects more reflective of acculturated ideals than nature worship. This contrast between the organic and the ominous effectively reminds us of the distance separating our modern society from the magical workings of the earth.

The show, which will remain on view through March 13, also includes work by Roberto Salas, Lynda Ross and Laura Crouch.

The Pacific Beach Storefront Project continues its series of exhibitions with an installation by Anna O’Cain and David Jurist at the site of the former Walker Scott Building (909 Garnet Ave.). The installation takes as its theme the experiments of an 18th-Century inventor, whose attempts to reproduce life artificially led him to create an artificial duck, capable of performing all of the normal functions of its living counterpart.

A huge draped canvas on one side of the long storefront depicts a duck carcass, laid out as if crucified. This sacrificed duck is accompanied by two smaller painted sketches on either side, presumably representing the automated duck apparatus. Various other elements reiterate the theme of illusion and trickery suggested by the duck feat, but they seem to litter the space more than transform it. If the artists intended to draw a parallel between the inventor’s illusionistic practices and the traditional importance of illusion in art, they failed. Their installation (through Feb. 20) feels unresolved and confused. At least the 18th-Century inventor made his creation look alive.

The Public Arts Advisory Board’s efforts during the Super Bowl extravaganza--including the installation of outdoor murals at the Community Concourse and the placement of artwork on bus advertising panels--were painfully bland and hardly worth recounting but for one notable exception. Roberto Salas’ “Night Vision,” a series of aluminum sheet metal and reflective vinyl sculptures lining Park Boulevard on either side of Zoo Place, transform common, urban objects into playful sculptural forms, injecting an element of surprise and humor into the environment.

Interspersed among the traffic signs, Salas’ vibrantly decorated posts and panels adopt just enough of the characteristics of “Bus Stop” and “Yield” signs to make drivers do a serious double-take. Expecting the static, stern and official, we instead find dynamic, whimsical designs springing off poles swaying as if from the force of the river of passing traffic. Though scheduled to be removed after Feb. 19, Salas’ works would make a delightful permanent addition to the city.