La Cienega Area

Los Angeles-based painter Francine Matarazzo works in a loose, improvisational style that seems a throwback to another era more unambiguously addicted to the pure joys of pushing paint around. But she navigates easily between big, flat spreads of color and bright little staccato incidents, rarely bogging down in fussy details.

Sometimes the terrain in these recent paintings relaxes into too-predictable formations. Occasionally passages are reworked so often they become clotted or little shapes start getting cute. But at her best, Matarazzo swings. In the all-blue “Tanka” (1988), layers of varying shades weave a watery texture that’s almost moire with surface scribbles and thin stray lines embroidering a peppy counterpoint. (Gallery 454, 454 N. Robertson Blvd., to April 12)