Review: Justin Hansch at Circus Gallery

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A keen sense of sweet absurdity marks Justin Hansch’s solo debut at Circus Gallery. It hits just the right note.

A piñata made in the likeness of painter Richard Jackson and filled with paint was smashed open, spewing color in swirling puddles on the floor and across a painting that shows the very room you’re standing in, hanging on a nearby wall. Upstairs, 10 small abstract canvases layering gestural shapes over atmospheric color are installed at equal intervals around the room — even though that rigorous logic means one canvas half-covers a window. Both installations pit painting’s grand aspirations against mundane realities.

The show’s centerpiece is a big, free-standing wall painted ecclesiastical purple, on which 21 small, rudimentary paintings are hung. These depict sights including a surfer’s perfect wave and a gigantic dog, man’s best friend, in crude yet earnest renderings.

Hansch represents humble desires in a manner at once grandiose and goofy. Based on a visualization board, where pictures of one’s personal dreams and prayers are hung for guided inspiration, the work knowingly fuses self-help culture with artistic practice, neatly leavening both.

-- Christopher Knight

Circus Gallery, 7065 Lexington Ave., Hollywood, (323) 962-8506, through Saturday.

Pictured: ‘Wacko Jacko’ (2008-2009), oil and acrylic paint, canvas, wood, linoleum tile, piñata. Credit: Circus Gallery