UNTITLED

While writing a history of artist-made films for Taschen two years ago, I discovered a wealth of extraordinary artwork coming out of Europe and Latin America dealing directly with Hollywood conventions.

To wit: Portugal’s Joao Louro is an important young artist who has a new show at Santa Monica’s Christopher Grimes Gallery (cgrimes.com; ends May 17). Each of his large-scale canvases uses a 1.66 (widescreen) aspect ratio to present an architectural rendering of an iconic film location, such as John Lautner’s Elrod House (“Diamonds Are Forever”) and the Malaparte House (“Contempt”). Each drawing is set within a large color field and comes with a fragment of the same film’s screenplay. “Blueprints and screenplays are just technical facts,” says Louro. Still, the paintings invoke a rush of memories. “I can’t show you a picture of Brigitte Bardot that will ever be as good as the one in your head,” he adds.

Meanwhile, U.S. artists are bringing their film-based art here as well. Carolee Schneemann, for instance, presents four experimental films at REDCAT (redcat.org; April 21), where the subject tends to be celluloid rather than Hollywood. The material explores the body politic as much as the artist’s physical form.

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-- theguide@latimes.com