Santa Monica

Matthew Mackendrick’s paintings sweep us through all the signposts of modern art: gestural realism in the tidy dishes of “China,” abstracted violet and green expanses a la Ed Ruscha in a work called “Monet,” a De Stijl arrangement of 20 separate canvases colored a biting Yves Klein blue titled “Signature.” “Durer” is the outline of a shadowy Christ figure looming to the right. From his nimbus radiate bands of moody color that expand into abstract painterly rays dominating the whole left side of the smallish work. Clearly this is an idiosyncratic stew linking Mackendrick’s historical mentors with personal commentary not always accessible to the viewer. He may be yet another artist grappling with the post-modern impasse, using chameleon styles to note that the contemporary artist has seen it all and needs to carve some new priorities. Though often well-executed, some works come off as abstruse, or worse still, hokey. (Roy Boyd, 1547 10th St. to Oct. 29).