A pair of concurrent shows at Craig Krull features paintings that, despite firm adherence to the tradition of pigment on canvas, appear to exist as other objects. Caroline Larsen squeezes vibrantly hued paint from pastry tubes into loopy ribbons and whimsical daubs that coalesce into comely scenes of flowers, mountains, Hockney-esque Palm Springs pools and green suburban lawns. With surfaces appearing as colored thread or even plastic, her exuberant paintings masquerade as pictures created of fused beads or needlepoint. Compared to Larsen’s riotous glossy rainbows, the monochromatic canvases of Dominic Terlizzi are understated and matte. Terlizzi’s white textured rectangles look like cast plaster tiles of the sort that decoratively commemorate plants, fossils or baby footprints. Terlizzi creates these by casting items such as dog biscuits and pieces of bread in acrylic paint. Both artists’ works simulate craft or interior decor; but underneath their dazzling surfaces are vague evocations of things amiss. Moody skies, skewed perspectives, and the absence of people in Larsen’s paintings such as Skylark (2017, pictured above) suggest that something is off in the portrayed arid paradise’s Mid-century modern environs. In crudely formed figures that emerge from Terlizzi’s white textured fields, childlike appearance belies sinister undertones, as the creepy disembodied faces in Guardian (2017). Though striking for their eccentrically contrived creation, these paintings’ allusions to portent and futility veer sharply from pure formalism.

Craig Krull Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave., # B-3
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Show runs through Jan. 13