D.J. Hall
Until September 14

What is it about D.J. Hall’s hyper-realist paintings that scares us so? In their very innocuousness they reveal the superficiality of our social beings and the mortality of our physical beings. For almost four decades Hall has been depicting well-off southern California women arrayed around pools, gardens, and lawns, enjoying themselves almost to distraction. Their glistening smiles and eyes hidden behind designer sunglasses constitute a LaLaLand cliché as hoary as the Hollywood sign. Sometimes the girls in the Halls are young and stupid; more often, however, they clearly were once and would like again to be. Putting it as unkindly as possible, Hall’s paintings are where trophy wives go to die. But in its slyly relentless recording of time and climate, Hall’s art strikes a note of poignancy; by fixing these ladies in her sights and prompting them to say “cheese,” Hall indicts them and pities them - and by extension herself and us. A retrospective of Hall’s art, amplified by drawings, photographs, and other studies and worknotes, is on view, fittingly enough, at the Palm Springs Desert Museum, until Sept. 14; and new work hangs at the Koplin Del Rio Gallery, thru July 12.

Palm Springs Desert Museum — until Sept. 14
101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Closed Mondays and major holidays; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm; Thursday 12 pm - 8 pm.
(760) 322-4800; http://www.psmuseum.org