La Cienega Area

Donald Judd is known for creating elegant but plain-spoken art. He has indulged in bright colors and reflective surfaces, but what you see is generally what you get in terms of the volumes, angles and edges of his geometric constructions. It’s something of a surprise, then, to approach four identical, wall-mounted boxes of cor-ten steel that invite questions about illusions. Are the surfaces as velvety soft as they look? Why do the angles appear to melt away in the interiors of these open boxes? Why do the carefully treated textures resemble natural formations?

These questions are forgotten as we move on to familiar Judd territory: big plywood boxes divided in unexpected angles, a series of four anodized aluminum boxes combined with orange plexiglass, and several cor-ten pieces that pair the rough, rusty metal with colored plexiglass, thus clarifying any doubts about actual form.

But in the Hilldale Avenue facility’s show of massive sculpture, questions return. Here, cor-ten takes over and becomes downright lyrical in big boxes that sit on the floor. The material looks rather like wood when cut in thick sheets that divide interiors of the boxes. Some side panels contain patterns that suggest rivulets, cascading water and other bits of landscape.

Is Judd inviting the old bugaboo of finding something “real” in abstract art? Certainly not, but he does seem to be loosening up in a way that enriches his art. This new cor-ten sculpture widens the range of his material vocabulary while towing the line of concrete form. The only illusion here is that Judd’s work is any less rigorous than its reputation. (Margo Leavin Gallery, 812 N. Robertson Blvd. and 817 N. Hilldale Ave., to Dec. 22.)