Since the Renaissance, architecture has been considered one of the noblest arts.

From Filippo Brunelleschi to Frank Lloyd Wright, architects have astonished us with their unique and innovative creations. In earlier times, architects came from the artisan class, but since the time of Leon Battista Alberti, who in a 15th century book described the architect as an artist pursuing "the noblest and most curious sciences," architects have increasingly come from the fine-art field.

Two cases in point are Joseph Justus and Christopher Mercier who are sharing a show at Pamela Skinner/Gwenna Howard Contemporary Art.

Mercier – who has worked on such prestigious international projects as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Conde Nast Cafeteria in New York and artist Richard Serra's pedestrian bridge in London – spent much of his childhood drawing and painting. He makes works that explore the interrelationship between painting, sculpture and architecture.

Pouring and molding paint into circular, oval and wedge-shaped forms, Mercier creates a fascinating cross between sculpture and painting that relies neither on decorative nor illustrational principals. Essentially he makes three-dimensional paintings that mimic two- dimensional art yet preserve their integrity as sculptural or architectural forms.

From a distance, they look like heavily impastoed paintings. Up close, some of the "brushstrokes" extend 3 or 4 inches into space.

Some of Mercier's works, which seem built up by accretion, resemble mad landscapes or architectural fantasies. Echoing on a much-smaller scale Frank Stella's work from the late 20th century, Mercier gives us wonderfully lush globs, swaths and protrusions of paint that loop jazzily across their supporting boards with a sense of joie de vivre. Less ambitious and prepossessing than Stella's maximalist paintings, they nonetheless have some of their gutsiness.

"Fortification," made of oil, ink, latex and enamel on canvas, is a raw conglomeration of roughly blocky and curvilinear forms in colors that range from bubble-gum pink, bright yellow and orange, to cool blues with a central passage that mixes green and orange. The effect is chaotic yet there is a cohesiveness to the application of paint in slabs and chunks that makes the work feel architectural, or at least solidly built.

Mercier uses lots of acid green and egg yolk yellow in smaller works like "Influx" and "Pile of Marlarkey." While some of his compositions are clotted and claustrophobic, he uses a great deal of white space in "Compressed Cosmology," which gives one's eyes relief. Occasionally his work has landscape implications as in "The Hills Have Eyes," with its baby blue expanse suggesting a sky, or moves into mythological territory as in the fearsome "Cyclops," which inexplicably bears two circular forms that could be construed as eyes.

In a small catalog accompanying the show, Mercier states that his goal is "to unveil the potential for an alternative spatial understanding that might better address the myriad of contemporary life as a positive, imaginative and engaging experience."

He succeeds in making works that engage us visually and that often are just plain fun.

Justus, who like Mercier has worked for the firm of Frank Gehry Partners, is working toward a master's degree in architecture at Columbia University in New York while also pursuing investigations into painting in works reminiscent at times of the abstract explorations by Morris Louis.

In "Untitled 1" he gives us a large canvas in which runs of color form rough stripes that descend vertically from top to bottom of the canvas. Thin pencil lines cut through almost subliminally as if indicating directional markings. The color is complex and soft, and he builds up layers of depth while preserving the integrity of the picture plane.

It's a handsome canvas that ironically seems to have more spatial ambiguity than Mercier's "Fortification," which is hung next to it.

"Untitled 10," which has an overall roseate tone interrupted in places by subtle passages of texture like fine wire mesh, is a calmer composition, quite lovely in the softness of its color. Pencil markings again incise the surface adding another layer of interest.

"Untitled 5" returns to vertical slashes of deeper color that are thicker and more aggressive than the runs and swaths in "Untitled 1." "Untitled 4" almost suggests a method of frottage, a kind of image made by rubbings, in an intricately textured canvas cradled in white paint.

Justus states that he uses "smears, blurs, lines, smudges, drips and scrapes … to overlap and reveal" his themes, which explore "ideas of life and decay."

Trip to two S.F. museums

The Alliance Franççaise de Sacramento (www. afdesacramento.org) at 1721 25th St. (at 25th and R streets) is planning a bus trip from Sacramento to San Francisco to view "The Birth of Impressionism" exhibit at the de Young Museum and the "Impressionist Paris: City of Light" exhibit at the Legion of Honor on July 17 (meet at 7 a.m., return at 6 p.m.).

The trip is open to nonmembers of the Alliance, which promotes French language and culture in the Sacramento area, with a cost of $55 for nonmembers, $45 for members, $35 for college and high school students.

For information, call (916) 453-1723.

NO NEED FOR 3-D GLASSES

What: Christopher Mercier and Joseph Justus

Where: Pamela Skinner/Gwenna Howard Contemporary Art, 723 S St., Sacramento

When: Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, through July 31.

Cost: Free

Information: (916) 446-1786, www.skinnerhowardart.com

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.