Looking for ‘Heart + Soul’ of London Art School Grads

At Sandroni-Rey Gallery, a perky survey of new works by 45 recent graduates from several London art schools suggests that contemporary art no longer travels from the ridiculous to the sublime. Preferring less taxing territory, most of the pieces in “Heart + Soul” pingpong between silliness and slightness. This isn’t unusual for shows of this sort, in which promise outweighs accomplishment and inexperienced artists test their talents against their ambitions.

Organized by artists Kirsten Berkeley and Gary Webb, this introductory exhibition is an enlarged version of a do-it-yourself show they put together last summer in a London warehouse. Occupying every square inch of the gallery and a temporarily rented studio up the street, it provides an enjoyable overview of works that are generally content to skim the surface of things.

The most memorable ones hint that more is going on than immediately meets they eye. Tommy Stockel’s two-part sculpture made of cut and folded paper juxtaposes structures based on mathematical and exponential progressions, demonstrating that no single system captures all of life’s mystery. Graham Little’s free-standing sculpture does double duty as an abstract painting, across whose snappy surfaces designer patterns and colors collide with geometric precision. And Max Hymes’ “Life of Wonder” is a painted plaster sculpture that could be a giant flower or a tiny tropical island.

Other noteworthy works include Henry Coleman’s Formica column, Keith Farquhar’s grungy riff on Op art, Ian McLean’s 6-by-4-foot portrait of a self-possessed woman, Paul Morrison’s black-and-white flower painting and Michael Raedecker’s hand-stitched canvas depicting a landscape seen through an empty room’s windows.

One of the most difficult aspects of being a young artist is discovering a voice of one’s own. This often involves working through (or getting rid of) one’s strongest influences. Ben Judd’s videotape “I Remember Cindy Sherman” steals the show by giving hilarious and haunting form to this anxiety.

Seated in a parked car, the young artist holds a picture of the influential artist’s head at arm’s length. Through the camera’s lens, we watch as he positions Sherman’s face over the faces of women who pass by on the sidewalk, unaware of his presence. Reciting a litany of fictitious memories, Judd reveals that his voyeuristic tendencies are anything but undeveloped.

The creepiness that unfolds is complicated (but not mollified) by the fact that Sherman’s oeuvre is based on masquerade, fantasy and estrangement. Unlike many of the works in “Heart + Soul,” Judd’s mundane tape embraces ambivalence to send a chill down your spine.

* Sandroni-Rey Gallery, 1224 Abbot Kinney, Venice, (310) 392-3404, through Sept. 1. Closed Sundays and Mondays.