West Los Angeles

Lorraine Lubner joins the myriad artists since Mark Rothko who try to harness layered hues to achieve transcendental ends. A natural colorist, Lubner builds appealing swatches of acrylic around a fuzzy-edged rectangle. Obediently she bears the torch of the New York School through drips and painterly strike-overs approaching each painting like a process of discovery. With few exceptions, her paintings share a prettified, safe execution and repetition of structure that undermines her best intentions. Lubner is at her most experimental and vigorous in smaller mixed-media collages. (Artspace, 10550 Santa Monica Blvd., to Feb. 20.)