Wilshire Center

A current show of paintings by Judith Simonian confirms she’s a self-challenging artist who won’t sit on past laurels or move to the common drum. When Neo-Ex was ravaging the figure, Simonian was giving us oddly Romantic scenes of reclining Buddhas and Hindu princesses. Now that art is over its temper tantrum and reaching to its effete classical past, Simonian makes gorgeous, even whimsical paintings that log present day trips to such exotic islands as Barbados and Manhattan.

You still would not call Simonian a realist. She reinterprets scenes to create optically veiled emotional odysseys. “Nun’s Cap” presents a New York architectural landmark of modern angles and sharp edges in smoky sfumato browns, as if viewed through some grimy urban atmosphere. She adds strategic lustrous tiles--one in bright lemon to depict a surreal glow emanating from a lighted window--and a foreground fence of Moorish lacery to give a sense of drama, dream and elegance. In “Bajan Seasoning” we see palms, island terraces and slow paced village life on the right; the left side completes the scene in a charming shorthand of bits of tile. “Debatable Wall” pits a literal wall of ceramic geometry against a quick sketch view of New York’s hotly debated barrier by Richard Serra.

As usual, Simonian moves with ease between pun, art historical rumination and pure visual/tactile lure. She is best when she is less the conceptualist and more the tour de force emotional painter. If you loved the sculptural pyrotechnics of earlier work, these paintings may seem bland, controlled. If you look close you’ll see an artist consolidating her aesthetic and maturing in the best sense. (Ovsey Gallery, 126 N. La Brea Ave., to May 21.)