‘Personal Metaphors,’ Cronin’s Surreal Dreamscapes

Los Angeles-based artist Richard Cronin is tilling a personalized expressive soil in his work, and it has something to do with tidily recounted dreamscapes.

In his show “Personal Metaphors,” now at the Carnegie Art Museum, we find a friendly brand of neo-surrealism, which he dubs “narrative surrealism.” In other words, the balance of elements and a kind of easygoing anecdotal air lead us into interpretations of a story line that, in fact, may or may not be present.

Fluorescent colors amp up the visuals in “The Night Garden.” As in other paintings here, a sense of blended forms and shifting depth hints at the irrational but maintains a design-esque decorum. “The House” is based on the generic form of a house, with Popsicle fireworks overhead, evoking either a celebration or a firestorm: Is it an ambivalent tribute to suburban bliss? Your call.

Cronin’s art, both the big, loud paintings upstairs and the meticulous pencil drawings downstairs, deals with a bank of recurring images, including faceless faces and objects such as gears and ladders, which lend themselves to metaphorical readings. But in the end, his main achievement is sensory, a tendency toward eye massage.

By contrast, the intriguing paintings of Ginger Moore Maxwell are highly detailed but also conscientiously subtle. Flower subjects are set against carefully arranged backgrounds, the shadows on which accentuate the artist’s consistent aesthetic. Her assiduous setup, seen clearly over the course of a healthy selection of pieces, is a critical part of the end effect. These are delicate paintings but emboldened by the approach, as seen in “Bow,” a branch of leaves with twine, an arranged marriage of elements toward a happy whole.

* “Personal Metaphors,” the drawings and paintings of Richard Cronin; “Supernatural,” new paintings by Ginger Moore Maxwel; at Carnegie Art Museum, 424 S. C St., Oxnard. Ends Feb. 24. Museum hours: Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sundays, 1-5 p.m. (805) 385-8157.

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Life as a ... : On Broadway at the moment, Molly Ringwald is hitting the boards in the selectively clad role of Sally Bowles, a cabaret singer in the shadow of Hitler’s rise to power. Ventura County gets its own taste of the classic, bittersweet musical beginning next week, with Allison Spratt playing Fraulein Sally in Theater League’s touring production of “Cabaret.”

* “Cabaret,” Tuesday through Feb. 3 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Tuesdays through Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. $32 to $41. (805) 449-2787.

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Continuing Saga Department: It’s been a big month for rock vets and gnarled family trees at the Ventura Theatre. Earlier in the month, Eric Burdon brought his New Animals to town, touching on a twisting musical career highlighted by the strange, seductive 1970 hit “Spill the Wine.” That dizzy pre-rap classic was recorded with the band War, formed in Long Beach back in 1969. Burdon departed the band, but War continued boldly, its moody urban variant of R&B; hitting pay dirt on the radio.

It all might seem like ancient history by now, a quarter of a century since a string of hits that includes “Slippin’ Into Darkness,” “Cisco Kid” and “The World Is a Ghetto,” except that songs like these are embedded deeply in our psyches, awaiting rekindling. Hear this band’s ongoing saga this Saturday at the Ventura Theatre.

* War, Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut St., Ventura, Saturday, 8 p.m. $25 to $35. (805) 583-8700.