Yamagata

Hiro Yamagata paints Parisian street scenes and cafes, bicyclists lifted aloft by colorful airships, the Eiffel Tower at dusk, giant rabbits leading the Paris circus. His is a world of flamboyant sailboats, fireworks, leaping dolphins, of easy miracles and nostalgic comforts, a child's paradise in which rainbows hug the ground in leaf-strewn parks. Born in Japan, Yamagata settled in Los Angeles after studying in Paris. Some of his paintings and prints synthesize artistic techniques of East and West; their abstract, shimmering quality recalls ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Yamagata prettifies everythinga cluster of Los Angeles billboards, a French wedding, a robbery. While his pictures with their candy colors, jaunty figures and minute detail have surface charm, their aura of innocence is facile and their photorealist technique is slick. (June 15