ART REVIEW:

Walking into Wax Poetic, you wouldn’t assume that it was a purveyor of fine art, but as the aroma of beauty products waft across the purple floor, one finds the salon has expanded into a sort of curio of all things “arty.” Special soaps and clearance cosmetics are neighbors to whimsical, vaguely erotic prints, punky girl buttons, and tiny take-home skull paintings.

And in an adjacent room, one finds the paintings of Christopher Ashe hanging from wires to avoid puncturing walls. The works lean forward into the space slightly and are crowded together. Two sheet metal sculptures rest atop IKEA coffee tables, which serve as makeshift pedestals in the middle of the floor, adorned by price tags worth a lifetime supply of shampoo.

The motif is overtly designed and incorporates a dichotomy of firing-range-target silhouettes and monochromatic splatters, reminiscent of planetary rings of hair dye.

On the opposite wall hang several meditations on a theme: panels made from birch door skin, among other hardware store materials commonly turned into art supplies. Some have numbers (likely imitating the scrawl of a lumberyard stock person) and Xs, which heighten the works’ design sense.

On the far wall there is a large piece with several of the paper men, shot with bullets and accompanied by pressed flowers. These polemic, found objects are laminated to the panel with globs of polyurethane, a formal trope used by many Rauschenberg fans.

Most of the works are titled “Study ___,” leading me to conclude that the artist is either pawning sketches or is an apprentice of his own device. He is obviously practiced in construction (his press release notes his work on HGTV), along with a statement that he doesn’t “know much about art.”

Ashe can weld, screen-print, drip, spray, cut and paste, however. He likes Banksy and Damien Hirst, but he couldn’t realistically be called a contemporary of either; more so he is a hybrid of influential Modern artists.

Leaving the stretch of Magnolia Boulevard, I remarked at the quaint, nostalgic feeling of the clean thrift stores, stationery boutiques, hanging flowerpots on street lamps, “urban” eateries and this “salon style” art show — showcasing the accessible culture of a big city in a non-threatening vacuum. It made me think about my hometown. And why I left.

FYI

WHAT: Contemporary Abstract Visuals by Christopher Ashe

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, through August

WHERE: Wax Poetic, 3208 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank

COST: Gallery is free

CONTACT: (818) 843-9469 or visit www.waxpoeticsalon.com

?JESS MINCKLEY is an artist, writer, art teacher and gallerist who lives and works in Los Angeles. Minckley was born in Salt Lake City and got a bachelor’s in fine arts from Otis College of Art and Design in 2005.