‘Fall’ Comes to the Mall

For a few years earlier in the decade, the Conejo Art Museum was a cultural destination nestled in Janss Marketplace. That space, with its odd yet intriguing mixture of curated exhibitions, is sorely missed in the area, but art is not a lost cause at the mall. Gallery 9, open for several months now, is a plentiful space given over to local artists.

The current fare is a group show called “Fall Palette,” despite the fact that fall has failed to show up for work yet. And autumnal themes aren’t really the common denominator in this show, either. The focus, such as it is, finds artists in search of their private identities. Dolphins and other kitschy ocean scenes amount to a fascination for Steven Robideaux Wayda, who sometimes presents his seascapes in cross-sections, above and below the surface. They’re just surreal enough to elicit interest, even for non-dolphinphiles.

Frank Kolwicz’s photographs include an evocative view of Calla lilies in Big Sur, with furling blossoms in foreground and an ocean beckoning in the distance. Marina Lasseter shows unassuming watercolors such as “Corner Pub” and “Ocean Gate,” graced with a sensitive play of light.

Other voices in the mix: Gisele Friedman French’s acrylics embrace an abstract collage sensibility, and Shirley J. Judy deftly squirms between media and modes of realism with her clay monoprint pieces.

Some of the best work in the show is by Katherine McGuire, the watercolorist whose distinctive and subtle scenes of Southern California architecture have been shown and appreciated around the county’s art scene in the past year. But she has hardly worn out her welcome.

* “Fall Palette,” through Nov. 3 at Gallery 9, Janss Marketplace, 205 Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday; noon-6 p.m., Sunday. (805) 379-1901.