LA CIENEGA AREA

Students of contemporary mass culture are invariably fascinated by Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol, and Ralph Loynachan is no exception. In a mixed-media assemblage that echoes Botticelli’s Venus on the half-shell, Loynachan presents Marilyn in her classic “Seven Year Itch” pose, surrounded by a whirlwind of stuff (entire articles of clothing are smashed onto the surface of this massive canvas). Loynachan renders Monroe’s face all smooshed and tragic, and it’s hard to decide whether that million-dollar mouth is shrieking in ecstasy or terror. Warhol puts in his obligatory appearance in a sculptural assemblage that approximates the figure of a man; in place of a head is a bird cage within which perches a portrait of Andy.

In his first one-man show, Loynachan tries to do so much that the work occasionally goes shrill and hysterical. The surfaces of these frenetic collages are lumpy crazy quilts of junk; among the articles recycled into art are an umbrella, a Volkswagen fender (complete with headlight), packets of hair clips, broken shards of mirror and hunks of fabric, wood and carpeting. Loynachan defines his images (lovers embracing in a beach house, a partially nude woman lounging next to a tiger) with such broad strokes that it’s almost impossible to read these compositions from a distance of less than six feet. The few patches of straight painting that peek through the wreckage reveal Loynachan to be a fairly accomplished draftsman. The most satisfying piece on view--a modest pastel drawing of a woman under a hair dryer--is also the simplest. (Eliat Gordin Gallery, 644 N. Robertson Blvd., to Feb. 5.)