Santa Monica

Ulrich Ruckriem’s split stone sculpture must mark the natural breaking point of Minimalism. Too richly colored and ruggedly gorgeous to conform to an austere aesthetic but too sensibly ordered to wallow in self-expression, these mammoth stones seem to match intellectual will with visual pleasure--and weight with quality. One look tells us it has taken too long for Los Angeles to host this major German artist. The difficulty of moving and exhibiting his work may preclude another showing, so this is not an event to be taken lightly.

Ruckriem’s procedure is roughly the same in all the pieces on view, but they provide a satisfying variety that puts one in mind of ancient monoliths, thrones or monuments. In each, great slabs of dolomite or granite are divided and reassembled so that mechanical cuts contrast with natural breaks while marking edges and defining form. Drilled holes plotting the cuts suggest the imposition of human force on nature; the stones’ presence in the gallery reinforces the power of an artist as nature’s editor.

One 23-foot stone wall alternates smooth gray surfaces with craggy red in an irregularly rhythmic procession. An 8-foot tall piece pairs a chair-like section with a towering wedge. Other works, roughly rectangular in form, are rather like broken mesas--too big to assimilate. As a visual experience, however, this show congeals in memory as art that knows how to be awesome without being intimidating. (HoffmanBorman Gallery, 912 Colorado Ave., to June 25.)