Hollywood and Ruscha

Interlock is another telling example of what happens when two minds grapple with a shared idea. My guess is that Felice began this one with a stylized line drawing of a nude figure, reduced to near abstraction, who gathers his knees up into his chest as he interlocks the fingers of each hand with the toes of corresponding feet. Vulnerably exposed in this position, the figure shows a moment of serene calm, recalling the lassitude of Henry Moore. Felice seemed to be most intent on getting the form right, as some lines have been whited out for readjustment. Coughlan churns out his version without too much fussing over the elegance of his line or an attention to ideal proportions, but catapults the concept to another level with the inclusion of a stick of burning incense placed in front of the figure, effortlessly turning the image into a send-up of touchy-feely New Age centeredness.

As much as the comparison of one interpretation to another maintains one's interest, the kooky subjects themselves are often the most entertaining. Both artists possess a wicked sense of humor, which comes out in pieces like West Coast Love Affair, featuring two white-trash, gun-toting rockers in T's and underwear, collapsed on a rumpled bed in postcoital bliss. The shirt on one of the figures -- gender uncertain -- advertises his/her status as an "Insane Fuck Machine," while the clearly female figure's shirt reads "Wake Me if You Want Some." Felice's drawing scans like a storyboard from an outlaw road movie, while Coughlan's could be a backwoods cartoon from an Inland Empire zine -- two related but distinct takes on the scenario.

"Telephone" lets us drop in on a lively conversation between two friends whose dialogue is sometimes guided by an improvisational jazz-combo dynamic, while other times resembling the mutually corruptive banter of Beavis and Butt-head. This strangely intimate give-and-take provides a mildly voyeuristic thrill -- and provokes a nagging desire to see each of these underexposed artists solo.

ED RUSCHA: New PaintingsAt GAGOSIAN GALLERY456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly HillsThrough January 16

MICHAEL COUGHLAN and JORY FELICE: TelephoneAt WORKS ON PAPER INC.6150 Wilshire Blvd.Through December 24