Influence of smoke, mirrors

Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte’s visual language, rife with playful irony and brainy paradox, is so befitting a post-modern audience that his ideas and imagery continue to saturate popular culture even almost 40 years after his death. The artist’s drawings and paintings are juxtaposed with works by 31 pop, conceptual and contemporary artists in “Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images,” revealing his lasting influence. Among works by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, the exhibition features an installation specifically created for LACMA by John Baldessari that, in the spirit of Magritte, turns one of the museum’s galleries upside down.

“Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Opens Sunday. $12-$17; 17 and younger, free. (323) 857-6000.

* Hours: noon to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; noon to 9 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Ends March 4.