‘Tell’ Talks in Its Own Quirky Way

Titled “Are We Alone? I Need to Tell You Something,” an exhibition of looselybrushed figure paintings by Charles Karubian divides neatly in two. At Santa Monica’s 18th Street Arts Complex, six mid-size oils on canvas zoom in for extreme close-ups of mouths and eyes while five nearly life-size works draw back a bit to depict solitary figures standing against flat backdrops.

Painted in a somber palette of earthy browns, fleshy tans, queasy olives, grungy blacks and dirty whites, Karubian’s pictures of isolated facial features resemble studies, studio exercises in which compositional problems are worked out before these elements are integrated into more ambitious works. Although one mouth smirks, another smiles widely and a third opens slightly to reveal three shadowy teeth, none delivers sufficient emotional impact to stand on its own.

In contrast, the people in Karubian’s generic portraits tug at your heartstrings in the same way that stray dogs do. Rough around the edges, unloved at the moment and eager for even the smallest act of kindness, these forlorn individuals simultaneously embody the desire to be accepted by the popular crowd and the knowledge that they never will. Most look as if they are standing at an interminable office party, too unsure of themselves to have a good time but too lonely to go home.

Organized by guest curator Mary Leigh Cherry, who runs a weekend gallery in Venice, Karubian’s exhibition would be stronger if its facial studies were replaced by paintings in which more complex narratives unfolded. Even so, the bittersweet poignancy of its best works makes for an awkwardly endearing show.

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* 18th Street Arts Complex, 1639 18th St., Santa Monica, (310) 453-3711, through June 29. Closed Saturdays and Sundays.