La Cienega

Santa Barbara artist Ron Robertson shows assemblage chocked with dizzying references to the lost continent Atlantis, the Bible, classical myths and medieval lore, not to mention a few of the soap-opera legends that have replaced myth for contemporary man. All the info is unified by constant allusions to political and military power and that age-old force that Marcel Duchamp said fuels the world, Eros.

Most assemblage artists appropriate junk; Robertson prefers to create objects, toys, stone and metal fragments that ape the look of wear and tear. “View From Atlantis” looks like a rusted submarine porthole set in a frame and through which we see a sea of old rings, oxidized gears and whatnots. In another work, a metal creature claws on a nude, overripe madonna. Her questionable chastity is questionably guarded by soldiers and all sorts of artillery. Right next door, a little toy couple relax numbly in their upper-middle-class pool.

It’s almost too easy for Robertson to make all these Barbie dolls, classical reliefs and war toys; he can free associate and tinker himself into real hokey ground. But his theme--that we’re an innately bellicose bunch soothing ourselves with illusions of romantic love--is provocative. (Heritage Gallery, 718 N. La Cienega Blvd. through May 20.)