Mary Temple’s Light Installation, Soo Kim’s Photographs and Mario Ybarra Jr.’s “Bring me the head of

Comments (0) By Amra Brooks Wednesday, Feb 7 2007

Mary Temple, As Cars Pass By (2007)

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{mosimage}Mary Temple’s Light Installation and Soo Kim’s Photographs at Sandroni Rey

Mary Temple’s wall paintings look like light from a nearby window casting shadows of outdoor greenery. Temple creates her site-specific installations in places where there is usually no natural light source, the end result being a convincing and artificial glow that works so well with the architecture, it may go unnoticed. Because of their play with the environment and the fact that they are actually impossibilities, the paintings have a hallucinatory effect on the viewer. This quality undermines their surface calm in an exciting way. Soo Kim’s cut photographic collages, mounted between clear Plexi, also deal with rearranging and changing our perception about interiors and exteriors. Be sure to see the two smaller Kim pieces in the office, photos of wintry trees with the cutout shapes of small birds that are quite beautiful.

2762 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. | (310) 280-0111 | www.sandronirey.com | Through February 24

Mario Ybarra Jr.’s “Bring me the head of . . .” at Anna Helwing Gallery

The title of this local artist’s solo exhibition seems to be a reference to the 1970s Peckinpah film about bounty hunters which was shot in Mexico. The 20 drawings lining one of the walls, titled The Ballad of Chalino Sanchez, compose Ybarra’s tribute to the popular singer’s tragic life. Since Sanchez was murdered in Mexico after receiving a death threat onstage (he migrated illegally to the U.S. after killing his sister’s rapist), he has become a legend with many songs written in his honor. Ybarra addresses politically charged issues through iconic Mexican-American references and signifiers from popular culture. The exhibition includes sculpture as well as drawing, painting and video.

2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. | (310) 202-2213 | www.annahelwinggallery.com | Through February 24