No medium is more modern, or even contemporary, than collage, as we see in this latest survey of pasted papers. Bringing historical figures such as George Grosz and William Copley together with latter-day collagists like Franz West and Pae White, “Collage Effect” demonstrates the near-universal applicability of the technique. The show collates 14 European and American artists of widely diverse styles, attitudes and generations (how often do you see Barry Le Va hanging on the same wall with Grosz or Martin Kippenberger?), reveling in the format’s flexibility and its enduring air of subversion. See also Ava Seymour, T. Kelly Mason, Fiona Banner, Albert Oehlen, Matt Bryans, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Liliana Moro and Peter Madden.

Downstairs, a whole other realm of visual expression gets turned on its head by a merry band of young Hollanders. These utilitarian designs, some drenched in a sunny surrealism, others lampooning the modernist elegance of their forebears, brim with that typically Dutch amalgam of puckishness and practicality. Look out especially for the unlikely lamps of Tord Boontje, the chinoiserie-on-steroids of Frank Tjepkema (a.k.a. Tjep), the wacko furniture conjured by the team of René Veenhuizen and Tejo Remy, Claudy Jongstra’s sensuous, elusive weavings, and Bertjan Pot’s seats fashioned from lightweight carbon strips. And the other seven composing the “NLA” team are hardly less deft or sprightly.

“Collage Effect” at 1301PE; (323) 938-5822. “NLA” at ACME.; (323) 857-5942. Both at 6150 Wilshire Blvd.; Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; thru May 27.

—Peter Frank

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