La Cienega Area

Andy Moses slides the swirling universe of his acrylic and alkyd resin paintings under glass etched with primitivistic markings. In “Signs of Civilization,” spiral formations punctuate images of flat boulder-like shapes covered with white “seas” and turbulent gray matter.

An expanding universe forms the centerpiece of the massive painting, “X-Ray Lasers Expand Deterioration.” On one side, text and a trio of images describe an X-ray photographic technique; on the other, images of a windmill were taken from a doctor’s investigation into the progressive deterioration of an artist with Alzheimer’s disease.

The notion of expansion and disintegration as applied to the world and to a human life commingle piquantly in the piece. The apparently meaningless title phrase seems designed to provoke thoughts about the ultimate trajectory of a technologically oriented culture.

Stuart Arends’ tiny boxes of old wood, with painted and penciled additions, are called “drawings.” The work is very obviously handmade and preoccupied, in a numbingly obvious way, with the relationship of word to idea and image.

In “Drawing with Ed Ruscha with Black and Silver (Homage to Ed Ruscha)” the projecting side of the little box sports three aluminum-colored bars and the Los Angeles artist’s name. “Drawing of Infinity and Black Circle” has a big black circle with the word “infinity” repeatedly scribbled on it. It’s a game that gets old fast. (Asher/Faure, 612 N. Almont Drive, to Aug. 6.)