Perspective and Wonder: From one angle, Roy...

Perspective and Wonder: From one angle, Roy McMakin’s large sculptures at Marc Foxx Fine Art appear to be oversize toys that belong in a life-size dollhouse. From another point of view, these same “let’s pretend” refrigerators, sinks and wastebaskets are revealed to be functional sets of shelves, dressers and side tables, handsome pieces of furniture that would not be out of place in the most fashionable of homes.

This sense of “Alice in Wonderland” playfulness infuses all of McMakin’s works, especially those that pass as objects of art. What seems to be a competent monochrome painting, divided by a pair of vertical lines (a thick gray one and a thin black one), is actually a shallow three-door cabinet that would make for a fantastic medicine chest or spice rack. (The vertical lines are formed by the shadows that fill the gaps between the cabinet’s doors.)

Although McMakin earned an MFA in 1982, he hasn’t had a solo show in an art gallery for 10 years. During that time, he ran Domestic Furniture, a successful showroom in Los Angeles, whose chairs, tables and beds are still revered for their simple beauty and practical comfort. Currently based in Seattle, the pragmatic artist continues to design furniture, having recently completed a commission for the Getty Center in Brentwood.

Simultaneously useful and beautiful, McMakin’s three-dimensional objects are both works of art and design. They occupy the charged territory between art and life, reflecting their maker’s exploration of this uncharted realm.

In an art gallery, it’s difficult to decide if what you’re looking at is sculpture or furniture. McMakin’s small works intensify this ambiguity by playing up scale shifts. A long table is jampacked with 143 wooden objects, painted white like the entire exhibition (except for three gray wool cushions). These fascinating souvenirs resemble architectural models, mock appliances and decorative doodads that form an extended family or an imaginary language.

All of McMakin’s multipurpose works are at their best when they get viewers (and users) to see the everyday world from different perspectives, ones in which categories are not rigid and your imagination has plenty of room to maneuver. Putting some wonder back into ordinary objects, they make you feel like a kid again.

*

* Marc Foxx Fine Art, 3026 Nebraska Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 315-2841, through Dec. 20. Closed Sundays and Mondays.