Santa Monica

Edward Ruscha’s idiosyncratic wit and wordplay are in fine working order in a selection of his paintings from the ‘80s. During the past decade, he has increasingly allowed words and imagery to carry his encoded messages rather than the actual look of the lettering--which used to preoccupy him so much back in the days of bon mots in egg yolk and spinach.

In “Strong, Healthy,” for example, there are no visible words at all, just two silhouetted houses under a night sky. White bars underneath the houses (the longer one under the larger house) conflate this cozy image of suburbia with the cold measuring instruments of a marketing survey--perhaps for an insurance company or a bank likely to use the title words in an ad.

There is, however, a potentially troubling side to the paintings that deal with socially and racially charged topics. Ruscha’s deadpan delivery leaves itself open to being misread as smugly ethnocentric.

“Words of Wisdom” folds a reference to growing Japanese business interests in the States into a fortune cookie-style motto. In block letters over a swatch of Japanese calligraphy brushed on a sunset sky, the words read: “When buying taxi cab company always leave seller with one to drive.” The point is probably that the old America-the-powerful tables have been turned by foreign investors, but the phrase sounds too Charlie Chan-like for comfort. (James Corcoran Gallery, 1327 5th St., to March 11.)