to oct. 7

Advances are slow in coming in the works of Teo González. Having dedicated himself to painting in a single mode, González progresses variable by variable, as rigorous as a scientist in his strict examination of form. It’s fitting then that his adopted form is borrowed from something seen under the microscope: vast arrays of organic cells, as examined in cross-section. In recent works, González has increased the size of several canvases to up to 10 feet. The large works build revealingly on the methods he’s advanced in his smaller works. Given the space to develop, the cells begin to behave like systems, organizing into bands of greater and lesser density in response to one another. Of course, they’re merely responding to the variations in González’s brushstroke; his paintings, then, become a surrogate for the artist. However, his work doesn’t belong in the same category of body-surrogate painters such as Lynn Meyers; González’s use of multiplicity fits the mold, but his handling of color is more painterly. Cerulean (Clear) Blue on Prussian Blue and Copper Pigment on Copper Blue, the dominant combinations in the show, play on strong contrasts in hue but don’t leave anything for closer examination. In the project space, Iñigo Navarro Dávila also works in multiples—specifically, multiple exposures of himself and another model in photographs that depict one-man posses in Pop settings. One woman becomes a clan of brats in one pig-tailed, Tiger Beat–infused image; Dávila (or rather, the Dávilas) don kitschy exercise gear and host their own track-and-field day in another photo, over which Dávila has scrawled mostly meaningless physics equations. The aggregate, sadly, comes across as a gimmick—a shame given that expertly splicing all those photos probably comes second only to painting all those cells in terms of painstakingly rote work. The exhibitions are on view to Saturday, Oct. 7, at Irvine Contemporary, 1412 14th St. NW. Free. (202) 332-8767. (Kriston Capps)