Santa Monica

Up from the walls of cafes and eyeglass shops and freshly installed in a first-rate gallery, songwriter Allee Willis’ collage paintings, motorized tableaux, sculptural objects and furniture constitute a radical statement. It’s based on the premise that art and life are one and that you don’t have to read the right books or spout the correct philosophy to participate.

In short, Willis’ work is art about pop culture as experienced at the bowling alley, around the kitchen table or on a cross-country trip in a motor home. She served peanut butter sandwiches at her opening--a choice that probably says more about her work than any review. But since I get paid for this, I’ll buckle down and tell you that Willis’ visual art is considerably better than the usual products turned out by celebrities. That’s probably because Willis’ art is all of a piece with her music. One motorized three-dimensional painting even features a lovelorn couple whirling to the strains of her song, “What Did I Do to Deserve This?”

Composed of treasures from the ‘50s, newer found objects, circuit boards and painted cutouts, Willis’ jam-packed scenarios pick up the beat of life lived emotionally by people who aspire to nothing more than being themselves and having a good time at it. Apart from a satirical update of the Last Supper and a sad little piece called “The Kennedy Administration,” this is art to feel good about or at least to share at gut level. You know the guy who’s in search of the perfect woman and the characters who are plugged into their appliances.

Willis’ strongest precursor in the fine art sphere is Red Grooms, but she has a way to go to match the range of his vision and drawing skill. She relies on stock cartoon types with bulging muscles, oversize hands and shell-shocked expressions, and she is inclined to overload each piece to the point that visual order suffers. A skilled painter could whip this stuff into shape, but formal perfection might kill the energy that fuels these audaciously common artworks. (Dorothy Goldeen Gallery, 1547 9th St., to July 23.)