The Valley

L.A. artist Don Lagerberg uses live, nude models as the subjects for velvety drawings of expert verisimilitude, but these are no more about anatomy or replicating nature than was a Renaissance drawing. Lagerberg is seeped in the idea, dating back to the 15th Century, that drawing from life should be a vehicle for formal, historical and psychological analysis.

Small drawings in Conte, pastel or charcoal on colored paper optimize different qualities of light moving over textures. Using dramatic white highlights, “With a Bracelet” contrasts the smoothness of metal with the cushiony vitality of bare, youthful skin. If you look closely, the deliberate low angle and three-quarter pose in “Robert, L.A.” create a remote and desperate look. “C.B. Space” limns a taut male torso with a huge exaggerated forearm that’s a study in 3-D illusionism.

There are Victorian and exotic female nudes that, if viewed as strict realism, will ring sappy. In all the drawings, Lagerberg isn’t so interested in having you believe what you see but in having you suspend disbelief while you join him in an intense and imaginative relationship with his materials and his sitters. (Orlando Gallery, 14553 Ventura, Sherman Oaks, to Oct. 26.).