WILSHIRE CENTER

A New York sculptor at mid-career, Robert Murray is a former protege of David Smith and Barnett Newman, and he cut his artist’s teeth wrestling with the problems posed by Cubism. In 1974 Murray witnessed a train wreck and became intrigued with the idea of curved and folded metal, an idea he translates into sophisticated reductivist sculpture with the cool austerity of art common to the lobbies of corporate headquarters.

Included here are six small models and one large floor piece made of fabricated aluminum with acid patina. Murray has a fairly exotic sense of color and he uses it--a rich teal blue primarily--to unify the overlapping planes of these pieces that are surprisingly whimsical considering their Minimalist leanings. They have the appearance of high-tech tepees. (Richard Green Gallery, 830 N. La Brea Ave. to Feb. 28.)