Wilshire Center

Beatrice Wood’s earthenware vessels reek of time and antiquity. Their pure classic grace seems timeless but the forms’ irregularity and the roughness of the glazed surface gives these bowls, vases and two-handled cups the appearance of having survived the centuries.

“Footed Bowl With Figures” is a small glowing container glazed in lustrous gold ocher with a relief border of small, rudimentary figures. These small decorative forms have the primal directness of a prehistoric ritual fetish--all hand work and intuitive figuration with a healthy respect for the mud itself. It is the opalescent glaze which turns each earthy vessel into a glittering jewel. Applied with a Zen Master’s detached acceptance of accident, it shimmers seductively, refracting light with the rainbow delicacy of an oil film on water.

Next to the aura of antiquity given off by Wood’s earthenware vessels, Anna Silver’s white ware seems as trendy as Melrose Avenue. The tall urns and platters are sleek, glossy and painted with wild decorative designs in vivid colors and metallic low-fire glazes.

Yet it’s sophistication more than slickness that ultimately marks these elegant slab-built vessels. The forms are stylistic hybrids; Greek urns with Baroque handles, or strange fluted necks. Yet Silver is able to integrate the various periods and appropriated elements seamlessly. The final vessel feels whole and somewhat timeless. The surfaces are decorated with a kind of Kandinsky-esque free form abstraction that plays against the cool Classic restraint of the form. This is most effective on the large, softly wobbly cobalt blue pots where the design freedom finds resonance in the the slight irregularity of the vessel. (Garth Clark Gallery, 170 S. La Brea Ave., to Nov. 30.)