Titled “6 Painters of the Rear Guard,” whatever that is supposed to mean—with poster notations such as “a return to perspective,” this strange potpourri of large canvases seems a shocking waste of energy and materials. In Los Beetles,  by Roberto Chavez, the over publicized slight figures are somewhat recognizable, with the exception of the introduction of liverish complexions and static postures. Looking like they were waiting for a family portrait to be taken, one sports a button: “Take a Dwarf to Lunch.”

Comanche Pick Up, and Return of the Hero, by Lance Richbourg might prove fun in a tasteless playroom filled with sentimental Americana and gun-toting, touristic collections, but the lurid canvases offer nothing of esthetic value.

This display, predicated on “a return to perspective,” includes Les Biller’s O Carib Isle, with amorphous growths and columns—all done with questionable draftsmanship, pointing up the unhappy truth that here is no attempt to portray even realistically a scene which might be mood-evocative. This is no deliberate distortion for effect or shock value—this is just plain poor painting.

The rest of the “6 Painters of the Rear Guard” are Charles Garabedian, James Urmston and Ed Carrillo, who experiments in weak derivative surrealism.

—Betje Howell