LA CIENEGA AREA

Jonathan White’s sculpture consists of reconstituted concrete fragments precariously held together by concealed pins and epoxy--much like ancient archeological relics lovingly restored by a museum. They tread a thin line between Zen-like transcendence and Minimalism’s concern with reductive form whether presented as free-standing monoliths, “fountains,” or framed windows.

White’s past shortcomings revolved around the simplicity of his concepts. His easy interplay of positive and negative space, both within and between each slab arrangement, tended to ignore the more provocative contradictions of process itself. The new work tries to address this problem by introducing the charred remains of the original concrete molds as one half of a series of diptychs.

White now seems to suggest that the sculptural object and its creative catalyst (form and process) can achieve equality only through their status as damaged goods, united by the ravages of time and history. This is a potentially interesting notion that White needs to explore more fully than through the facile dualities expressed here. (Jeffrey Linden Gallery, 625 N. Almont Drive, to June 20.)