Show’s Energy in Abstraction

A happy mishmash of sculpture, with a few pieces of 2-D art, has taken root in the Art City II gallery. What the show lacks in curatorial focus, it gains in the kind of brawling energy that has often characterized this art haven on the fringes of Ventura, a stomping grounds for sculptors and other artists.

One of the identifiable themes running through the show, which has no formal title, has something to do with figurative impulses tempered by abstraction. Paul Lindhard’s “Male Torso” draws a link between the curves of human sinew and the surface of stones, while in Alex Morosco’s “Moondial,” a human form struggles to break free of a chunk of marble.

For painter Alain Sailer, flesh is dream putty, as he twists and mutates bits of anatomy, a la Dali. But then, of course, that figurative artistic strain has nothing to do with the shamelessly Claes Oldenburg-ish gesture of Frank Lauran’s “Safety Pin,” which stands like a pop art sentry by the doorway.

A section of desert, replete with sand, stepping stones and cacti, is plopped down in a corner of the gallery, providing a miniature in-house sculpture garden for pieces such as Jo Anne Duby’s “Desert Bloom” and Dan Layman’s canny “Cat Dog,” a rusty metal mongrel.

Providing a logical photographic foil to the sculpture on view, Kakine’s simple, meditative images celebrate the stark relationship of forms and colors found in the desert. It’s all undulant sand dunes and blankets of blue sky. In some odd way, the pell-mell makes perfect sense here.

* Sculptural works at Art City II, 31 Peking St., Ventura; 648-1690.