ART REVIEWS

Chalky Color: The “Visages” paintings of James Hueter are precisely that, haunting modernist faces or minimalist masks. Each is a flatly painted, rectangular form deeply bisected by a shallow, glass-lined, vertical trough. On either side of this deeply colored trench are vast areas of chalky color that suggest sun-drenched walls cooled by slanting evening shadows. In either of the top corners are small, painted rectangles that suggest window frames and give the visages their blank staring gaze. Hueter has turned geometric abstraction into figure before in his work. The consistency of this transformation, coupled with the mesmerizing stare of the paintings, suggests that the evocation of the Buddha’s contemplative gaze is an intellectual gambit with spiritual meaning.

Tobey C. Moss Gallery, 7321 Beverly Blvd., to April 6.