Psychedelic lures

The valley’s winter blanket of fog chills the bones and dulls the mind so that you just want to sleep, like bears who do it all winter. If you’re lucky, your dreams will be like Bob Girasek’s paintings at 20th Street Art Gallery. Girasek’s Technicolor paintings are full of imagery—an amalgamation of patterns, people and movement. In some, he pulls patterning straight out of the 1960s. If you look long enough, these geometric shapes can undulate like a beaded curtain wafting in a breeze. Girasek adds folks like Tom Waits playing piano, with a close-up of him wailing a song, emotion etched on his face. Sometimes there’s somebody else in Girasek’s paintings, too, looking at you, unraveling your secrets. It’s hard to unlock yourself from their hypnotic gazes. Black & White & Color continues until January 29 at 20th Street Art Gallery, located at 911 20th Street. Call (916) 930-0500 for information.