ART : Variations on a Landscape Theme : The diverse works in the Topanga Canyon Gallery exhibit are an attempt to present more than ‘little old lady watercolors.’

A trip to the Topanga Canyon Gallery to see a landscape art show may seem a bit re dundant. After all, the gallery is in the middle of Topanga Canyon, one of Southern California’s glorious landscapes.

But the 40 works by 20 artists in the show, “New Horizons: Dimensions in Contemporary Landscape,” represent a broad, engaging interpretation of this genre. Viewing the exhibit could complement time spent enjoying the canyon’s natural environment.

Landscapes in the gallery range from paintings, drawings, watercolors and prints to mixed media and sculpture. Exhibit organizer Julie Dayton Paul wanted to present more than “little old lady watercolors,” she said.

That characterization, referring to watercolor images that illustrate standard themes without inventiveness (including floral motifs and idealized landscapes in cheerful pastel colors), came from one of Dayton Paul’s art instructors at Wayne State University in Detroit about 20 years ago. “And she was a little old lady, but she was gutsy and abstract,” Dayton Paul said.

To further increase the chances for variation on the landscape theme, Dayton Paul opened the show to artists who are not members of the co-op gallery.

“As a co-op, we keep looking at our work,” she said. “It gets kind of insular. We like to pull in new people. This is one way of letting other artists know we’re here.”

To recognize achievement, Dayton Paul asked Richard Kinney, director of publication services for the J. Paul Getty Trust, to view the show and present four awards. “He has been an arts educator for 30 years and involved with many arts groups,” she said.

Honorable mention went to Elsbeth Mason for the intaglio print, “Eli’s Laundry,” and Deane Swick for the mixed media “D/41/94.” In this textured work in black, white and shades of gray, tree-limb-like elements convey a sense of a human / animal figure. A handwritten text reads: “And how many times will you attend to your needs instead of your dreams?”

Dayton Paul received a juror’s award for her intense, eerie oil painting, “Road Into Night,” an image based on a photograph she took at noon in Northern California’s Point Reyes area. The wind was blowing and “all the trees were bent in these wonderful shapes,” she said.

The best of show award went to Jeanne Jo L’Heureux for the oil painting, “Barrier Ahead.” With a bright yellow background and a minimum of black line, she created the feeling of a two-lane blacktop, complete with cracks, making its way through hill and valley and beside fenced-off open spaces.

Beverly Grossman’s country landscapes--the abstract “Barn With a Future” and the more realistic “Mindo Oats”--incorporate watercolor and collage elements. Connie Mississippi used black rubber and nails on wood to form visual notions of an “Inner Landscape.”

The abstract image of Mary Theis’ watercolor, “World Inside Out #2,” was created around a triangular space, as if looking through a kaleidoscope. Her visions of trees and urban dwellings suggest something like the Central Park area of New York.

Using a luminous paint, Jenifer Palmer-Lacy generates an electric feeling of possibility in “Elysian Heights Sunrise,” and the foreboding that comes with a “Malathion Night, Elysian Heights.” In this painting, a string of helicopters bears down on the area, poised to drop insecticide.

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: “New Horizons: Dimensions in Contemporary Landscape.”

Location: Topanga Canyon Gallery, 129 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Ends July 23.

Call: (310) 455-3923.