Hollywood

If you ever doubt that there are recurring universals in art, look at the abstract rock sculptures of Seiji Kunishima. Like a bonsai garden or the best of Noguchi’s work, Kunishima’s granite monoliths wrest order from nature without ever totally effacing her hand.

Kunishima, who also makes massive public works of shiny black granite imported from Africa and India to his workshop in Japan, makes a current show of compact gallery pieces that can weigh up to 600 pounds. Kunishima works with the natural fissures in slabs of black and gray marble, pitting, polishing and interlocking surfaces so carefully that the artist’s hand looks like intrinsic design.

One untitled piece illustrates the formal clarity and ritual cadence that imbues all the sculpture and a sprinkling of excellent drawings. In the piece, two slabs of granite echo each other’s shapes and rhythms; the flat surface of one is slightly convex to accept a thin film of water, across both cuboidal altars lie single branches crafted from aged looking cast bronze. In enormous scale or small, Kunishima’s vision is lyrical and succinct as a haiku. (Space Gallery, 6015 Santa Monica Blvd., to Dec. 3.)