Where to buy...Wayne White

Wayne White’s career has taken a dizzying number of turns. Formerly a cartoonist, he also designed the sets for Pee-wee’s Playhouse and an award-winning Peter Gabriel video. The show “Masterworks 2000–2009” features paintings in which White uses 3-D letters to transform mass-produced lithographs into panoramas of jumbled thoughts. Some works are autobiographical: Wood Burn Country Boy (2008), a folksy sculpture in gnarled wood, recalls the artist’s Tennessee upbringing; High Dollar Rig, a word painting from the same year, suggests a high-speed escape to New York. Apparently the young White couldn’t wait to get his eventful life started. At Western Project, 2762 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 838-0609. Prices from $4,500 to $35,000.