SANTA MONICA

Summer art shows often seem like sleepy way stations between the vacation lull and the “real stuff� that resumes in the fall. Not so in this small group show. It is unusually appealing mainly because tenured curatorial discretion avoids grafting on a lot of conceptual hocus-pocus. Quality control is high and diversity holds our interest without that pull-out-whatever-you-got-back-there feeling.

There are some sure-to-please favorites and some riskier entries. We can’t help but be soothed and delighted by the impeccable drawings of Martha Alf and Joyce Treiman. A gnarled double Christ by Jim Morphesis is similar to but more powerful than his selection in the County Museum of Art’s “Avant Garde� show. A series of photographic grids by Robbert Flick jog both eye and mind. In the latter category, risk pays off in “Mizz,� William Tunberg’s edgy assemblage, and in David Furman’s clever bulletin boards complete with tacks, pencils and sketches all fashioned from glazed and painted ceramic. A few mauve/turquoise abstractions by other artists lie dangerously close to the over-the-couch and “in� color sensibility. (Tortue Gallery, 2917 Santa Monica Blvd., to Aug. 29.)