They say that laughter is essential to...

SAN DIEGO — They say that laughter is essential to good health. Well, in her way, Amanda Farber, whose new sculptures and drawings are on view at the Patty Aande Gallery (660 9th Ave.,), is contributing to the community’s welfare.

Using a variety of materials, including wood, aluminum, cloth mache and acrylic paints, Farber makes sculptures whose scale and dislocation from their ordinary contexts make them momentarily unidentifiable, then, with the discovery of what they are, risible.

“Mira,” for example, appears to be a pair of identical, open, abstract, floor-oriented forms nearly 7 feet tall. They are nothing more than loops with interior, vertical black ovals in their right-hand corners.

But consider the title. Spanish for “Look!” Ah, yes! I see! You see! We all see! The sculpture is a pair of giant eyes, the eyes of a cartoon character, like Bugs Bunny, for example.

Once you are alerted to the “gimmick” you are ready to appreciate the other works like “Wish” (39 inches high), which represents half of a chicken’s wishbone or “Loop” (3 by 4 feet), a huge representation of a tiny piece of string. With the large, enigmatic vertical crescent entitled “Watching Out of the Corner,” we return to eyes, or rather an eye. But with “Are You Listening, Minnie?” we add the aural faculty. Two black discs, each 46 inches in diameter, represent the ears of Mickey’s mouse friend.

Among the other sculptures are two that refer to Greek vases and a red stop sign that resembles a rose (“Flower That Says Stop It”).

In addition, the exhibit includes several of Farber’s graphite drawings, which combine strength and contingency in a distinctive style.

Farber’s exhibition charms us and makes us feel good. But it does not do more. It continues a theme already familiar from the artist’s earlier exposures at the gallery without, however, evincing any evolutionary development or refinement.

The exhibit continues through April 25.

The Mark Quint Gallery is exhibiting two series of black-and-white photographs by Han Van Nguyen, a native of Vietnam who has settled in San Diego.

The artist uses real objects--for one series, chunks of wood, for the other, cactus plants--in such a way that we perceive them as elegant abstract forms.

Rough-hewn wood chunks balanced on a small, fabric-draped pedestal look like precious objects with a votive presence, an effect enhanced by the artist’s refined attention to setting up (or framing) his subjects. The images appear, however, to have been printed dark, so that there are no highlights of pure white, only varieties of gray.

The artist “poses” his cactus subjects similarly, although on a wider pedestal draped in burlap. The natural elegance of their forms makes us forget the danger of their spiny natural defenses.

In an adjacent gallery, Quint is offering a mini-survey of the works of Raul Guerrero spanning the past five years.

The exhibits continue through April 4.

Acevedo Gallery (4010 Goldfinch Ave.) is exhibiting the works of Mexico City native Shirley Chernitsky.

They are colorful, imaginative, floral works in an international, decorative style. They could have come from anywhere.

“Shirley,” as she signs her works, is also responsible for a number of related fiber hangings.

The exhibit continues through April 4.

The new show at J. Dewers (345 Market St.) is more distinctive. Who does not recognize Japanese woodblock prints?

On view is a handsome selection, many by Toyokuni III, representing scenes from Kabuki theater and at least one by Hiroshige from his famous “One Hundred Famous Places of Edo” series.

Informative texts assist visitors to understand some of the esoterica of these prints. But you do not need any expertise to appreciate them on a gut level.

The exhibition continues through April 30.