Santa Monica

Brad Howe uses polished aluminum surfaces that remind us of David Smith and shapes that recall Alexander Calder’s whimsical biomorphic forms. He builds wall-mounted abstract sculptures by layering aluminum cut-outs parallel to the wall. Each layer is a flowing organic shape separated from the one beneath it by short metal studs. As the complimentary shapes approach the viewer, they become smaller. Viewing them is rather like seeing a three-dimensional abstract collage from above, with the gallery wall as the ground. In “Dionysus Return,” a clutter of oblong metal forms each other in an arching arrangement that looks like a school of dolphins breaking water. The tenor of “Out of the Blue” is more contemporary.

Howe begins with a rectangle painted with a strident blue lacquer, then has all manner of aluminum squiggles, Z shapes and inverted suggestions of letters exploding out of it to convey the jazzy tempo of a Stuart Davis painting. “This Way” hangs from the ceiling in a predictable take-off on Calder’s mobiles, suspending energetic shapes around a bright-red arrow that futilely tries to point the way. The work is likable enough, but it is unmistakably derivative. Its biggest drawback is that we’re just too tempted to see a little David Smith here and a glimpse of Miro there. (B-1 Gallery, 2730 Main St., to Jan. 10.)