UNTITLED

I first heard about Jeffrey Vallance in 1988, when he exhumed the remains of a chicken from a pet cemetery.

Vallance had buried the bird, which he dubbed Blinky, 10 years earlier with a complete service, even though it actually came from the meat department at Ralphs -- bag and all. It was a prank, of course, but he took it very seriously. During the exhumation, he had professionals determine the cause of Blinky’s death. I’ve been a fan ever since.

So I was thrilled to find out that his new show at Margo Leavin Gallery in West Hollywood includes projects from the 1970s. My favorite, included here, is a letter-writing campaign he initiated in 1978, in which he asked U.S. senators to sketch anything they found appealing.

To his surprise, several responded, including Barry Goldwater and Strom Thurmond. Howard Metzenbaum sent him a bad pencil drawing of the Capitol with a proud note: “Private expression via this medium is a gift that should be recognized.”

Far from simple appropriation, the project is autobiographical and allegorical. Aside from the letters, the exhibit includes reliquaries -- ornate boxes filled with mementos, or relics, from Vallance’s life. Each comes with text outlining what it means to the artist. Thus, Vallance’s works continually raise questions about our desire to attribute value to seemingly random objects, as the show’s title, “Belief System,” suggests.

-- theguide@latimes.com