Wilshire Center

Ron Rizk’s trompe l’oeil paintings of tattered wooden decoys and ripped photographs pinned on dilapidated walls make tidy art historic references to 19th-Century American illusionists and 17th-Century Dutch still life painting. On the other hand the boxed items spin surreal narratives in the vein of Joseph Cornell and relate to the whole West Coast assemblage tradition that used castoff materials to address a wasted society.

By painting objects instead of using the real thing, Rizk connects assemblage back to its roots in painting. But the hyped realism is also meant to seduce the audience. In “A Lure,” a crude red wooden fish is suspended against a black background. Dangling a couple of inches from the fish’s nose is a small painted “tear” in the blackness that reveals just how shallow the space is. By turning illusion back on itself the image’s “bait” can be recognized as the enticement that gets the viewer to bite into the deception.

Rizk’s ironic appreciation for the twists and turns that art and life take as we ponder what’s real and what’s illusion make his paintings as delightfully intelligent as they are technically remarkable. Certainly it is no accident that in each painting there is a small image of a king’s fool (a character meant to entertain the court while keeping it honest by telling the truth). That endeavor requires a delicate balance. (Ovsey Gallery, 126 N. La Brea Ave., to Feb. 4.)