Christopher Knight reviews the exhibition Abel Baker Gutierrez: Swimming at Luis de Jesus Gallery, Santa Monica, CA on view through August 27, 2011.

Knight remarks that Gutierrez's paintings, "all but one on wood panel, have the look and feel of oil sketches. The abbreviation of the paint-handling is beneficial. Rather than laborious finish, which would suggest a declarative statement, the sketchiness is a painterly equivalent of drawing. Wistful rumination and reflection emerge."