There’s probably a law against reading something representational in purely abstract geometric works, so I'll likely be arrested for enjoying the two cityscapes in Jose Bellver’s solo exhibit, Scramble. But before hauling me off, take this advice and go see the show, even if only to experience encaustic painting, something we don’t see a lot of these days.

The academic works that insist you think “Barnett Newman meets Mark Rothko meets Jasper Johns” fully communicate through the texture, the layered encaustic heaviness and the surprising glitter that breaks up planes of solid color. Scramble seems like a continuation of Bellver’s serious role as artist, teacher and student, particularly the latter, in the way he fully absorbs whatever process or style he’s working in before jumping into something else, taking the lessons learned with him to his next level.