La Cienega Area

Part two of a three-part traveling exhibition of prints by artist Bruce Nauman is a hard-to-fathom glimpse of his work spanning 1974-1981. The graphics are only part of the artist’s output in those years, so you can’t get a sense of his career. But if you know something about his mildly sinister neon texts or his stubbornly contrary objects that defy perspective logic, you should be able to negotiate this chunk of the artist’s unpredictable oeuvre.

For an artist who works in so many mediums, from videos to holograms, Nauman evidently finds printmaking particularly suited to the quirkiness of his message. He plays with the mirror reversals of printmaking.

Occasionally he goes for the conceptual jugular as in “Silver Grotto/Yellow Grotto,” a threatening message about hidden motives buried between lines of text and image.

Not known primarily as a printmaker, Nauman’s are nevertheless thoughtful out and well executed. Some of the boldest images are the most congested with line and mark, purposely confounding readability. But even the simplest imagery like the box within a box in “No Sweat” can have a chilling sense of menace and a perverse sense of humor. (Earl McGrath Gallery, 454 N. Robertson Blvd., to Dec. 14.)