Sometimes there's a fine line between high-brow conceptual and mind-pretzel punster, and Marc Fichou straddles it. One of the first artists in the coming onslaught of shows in the citywide program “Ceci N'est Pas… Art Between France & Los Angeles,” Fichou was born in France but calls L.A. home. The title of his new show, “Contenant, Contenu” (Containing, Contained), is a pun in both French and English as well as a statement on the literal structure of the installation. Working in photography, sculpture, origami and architectural intervention, Fichou's works feature imaginative double use of materials to create objects and self-referential sites for those objects: A folded paper sculpture is photographed and presented against a setting of its unfolded form; a gallery room is partially disassembled and reconfigured without losing its structural function. In these and other iterations on the theme, Fichou explores how art and images variously create, inhabit and decorate space. Like seemingly every single gallery in L.A., the official opening reception takes place Saturday, Jan. 12, but there's so much going on that night, you might as well head over to Bergamot early in the week and get a head start on the biggest art month of the year. Robert Berman Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B7, Santa Monica; Sat., Jan. 5, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; thru Feb. 16. (310) 315-1937, robertbermangallery.com.

Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Jan. 5. Continues through Feb. 16, 2013

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