Santa Monica

In large, graceful charcoal drawings, David Limrite plays with old-fashioned images of the smitten lover or mourning figure muffled in a greatcoat, clutching a bouquet. But the flowers--sketchy tissues of color against the solid darkness of the man’s coat--are weak-kneed cliches. The work offers a sappy, wide-eyed view of nostalgia that begs for our sympathy without having earned it.

Limrite puts more of a spin on his forthright group of mixed-media portraits, and it pays off. In “Eddy,” the awkward slope of the thick wiggly lines of the man’s shirt disappearing down one side of his body seems to offer a wry take on the personality of the sitter.

Bruce Rod’s painted wood and fiberglass constructions have a quizzical charm. Some of the curving, convex shapes hang on the wall; others sit on the floor. All are sparingly painted with enigmatic patterns, industrious little three-dimensional constructions or recognizable objects.

In “Procedure,” images of broken chairs and a lamp are lined up like words in a sentence. Clinging to the upper corners of the piece--a habit of placement that threatens to become a rote effect--are tiny images of a ring on a peg and a curving cross. It isn’t quite clear whether some mastermind holds the clues to these odd juxtapositions, or whether they are meant to baffle all comers. (John Thomas Gallery, 602 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, to Sat.)