All Things Frank

The current show at Utopia Design in Studio City, “Perfectly Frank,” consists of variations on the theme of American legend Frank Sinatra. Oh, and the works are by father and son artists Robert and Darren Frank.

If his mixed media works are any indication, son Darren Frank is the main perpetrator, possessing an obvious Sinatra obsession. Sometimes, the art exudes a Warhol-like detachment, as in the repetitive images of Sinatra’s face on magazine covers marked up with text, lyrics, drawings and puns. One example is a picture of sartorial ties accompanied by the phrase “Mob Ties.”

All things Sinatra are held up to the light of hero worship, including a bottle of Jack Daniels--Sinatra’s drink of choice--which has been painted with the Chairman of the Board’s visage. The Rat Pack is duly celebrated with goofy pieces that combine the classic shot of the group at the Sands in Las Vegas and images of a rat behind actual chicken wire.

Robert Frank shows an odd collage, “My Way,” in which crudely cut and pasted photos of Sinatra are floating amid what looks like an inferno. His wooden stage scene with Sinatra a ghost-like silhouette in the background borrows the wistful song title “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

Originally, Darren Frank had planned to show some of Sinatra’s humble efforts as a visual artist along with the other “Frank” art, but he opted for a show about Sinatra rather than by him.

Darren Frank’s best works are his simple, stylized acrylic paintings, such as “Frank’s Singing Session,” in which a lean Sinatra appears as a masked man. In “Frank According to Picasso” and “Frank’s Wives and Lovers According to Picasso,” he employs a cool, cartoony verve.

Tucked away in the gallery is a piece by Jane Goren. The quirky “On the Record” touches on Sinatra’s darker side. Using a Sinatra record as a base, she paints Ol’ Blue Eyes’ mug and a martini glass in the grooves and includes the newspaper headline “Sinatra Got Mafia Help for Kennedy.”

More than other art in the show, Goren’s piece seems like a half-questioning, half-loving tribute. Much as we may love him, Sinatra certainly had his demons, as well as friends in the wrong places, on the route to the heart of America.

BE THERE

“Perfectly Frank” by Darren and Robert Frank through November at Utopia Design, 12212 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. (818) 755-9030.