La Cienega Area

In the Bible, the universe was formed when order was divinely wrested from chaos, and the final expression of that was man. In Eastern philosophy, the universe was created from a harmonious standoff between light and dark, cohesion and dispersal, and the flesh was a fleeting illusion in the greater scheme. Los Angeles abstractionist Karen Carson gives us a visual analogue for the latter version in clever, energetic work that takes a tough theme and has a good time with it.

In each canvas the background is roughly divided into a light, bright side where quickly painted (or in some cases spray painted) concentric circles in neon greens, pinks and oranges seem to explode and radiate sending out long colorful emanations that bleed into and converge with an adjacent area of darker tones. In the darker area a more stable shape, such as a diamond or an off-center square tipped on its side to look like a diamond, sends out its own visual vibrations of color and echoing shape. Shapes, colors, patterns mingle and collide to make engaging designs and illusionistic puzzles that often feel like corridors in a glass house or a maze.

Carson adds tiny shards of glass to emphasize the trajectory of painted gesture or heighten the illusion of depth. The works are so full of information that you come in close to look and catch fleeting glimpses of yourself, passers-by, bits of the painting reflected onto itself and fun house reflections of the gallery space.

Whatever transcendent philosophy lies behind the work, Carson is well schooled in Modernism and Post-Modernism as she adds actual wood moldings that hint at Synthetic Cubism or frames of paintings. (After all, isn’t art the ultimate illusion?) These are visually charming works made better because there is room in Carson’s crammed, holistic universe for humor. She titles works with metaphysical little ramblings borrowed from Disney songs and ‘50s lyrics, such as “I only have eyes for you” or “. . . makes no difference who you are.” (Rosamund Felson Gallery, 669 La Cienega Blvd., to June 3.).