Sculpture: Fishhooks in the Memory

At first glance, the constructions of H. C. Westermann seem as innocent as something made for a child. Many of them look like dollhouses and, like dollhouses, have doors that open and windows to peer through into magical interiors where tiny figures go about their unknown business. But wait. Take the centerpiece of a comprehensive show of Westermann's work mounted at the Los Angeles County Museum. Its title is the first eye opener: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea. The figure's mouth is an angry gap, its nose...