Get A Feel For This Gallery Mack Exhibit

Ten Artists Working in Three Dimensions at Gallery Mack, 2001 Western Ave. through June 4; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday; 448-1616. ------------------------------------------------------------ Look but don't touch - that's the usual rule in gallery going. But a good part of the pleasure of the current show at Gallery Mack is that you're welcome to touch, finger and downright stroke the sculpture.

"Feel this patina," urges gallery owner Barbara Mack, running a hand over "Full Moon" by Ron Klein of Seattle. The tall, flowing bronze turns easily on its pedestal, allowing further explorations of its curves and hollows. Living with "Full Moon" or one of Klein's other sculptures would be living with a dancer of incredible poise, one willing to hold an endless arabesque.

Georgia Gerber, Whidbey Island, has her own lovely way with sinuous lines. Trace the tail of "Cat With Closed Eyes" as it curves over a furry haunch, or follow the sweeping, joyful movement in "Otter Stone II." Gerber's otters are displayed vertically, but Joel Shepard of Seattle sets one floating on a walnut table surface. The otter lies on its back with a shellfish ready to crack, emerging from the smooth, dark surface as if from stilled water.

These sculptors - joined by Ken Patecky of Vancouver, whose rounded, crouched human forms can double as table supports - serve as the Washington state contingent of the show. Gallery Mack also offers six artists from the Southwest, the most famous among them R.C. Gorman, whose views of women continue to look bathed in the clean, bright light of Santa Fe.

Arthur Williams of Abilene, Texas, delights in pared-down imagery. Sculptures such as "Rings," glowing in rosy alabaster, are some of the most inviting to the touch. In one work, Williams splits one stone around another like a seed husk around its living center. Andy Goldschmidt, of Taos, also deals with germination in "Seed Pod," one of several hand-coiled ceramic vessels. Other Goldschmidt decorative elements resemble Navajo weavings, an intriguing cross-relationship between two ancient crafts.

Kirk Tatom and Steve Chase, both of Santa Fe, carve stylized animal forms with a touch of whimsy. Look for Tatom's alabaster bird in "Reason to Be Pink," with its falling ruff of feathers. "Raccoon," by Chase, gives broad, etched stripes to the animal's tail.

Go ahead and touch the metal sculpture by Gary Mauro, of Santa Fe, but hold off on the canvas wall sculptures - they'd be harder to keep clean. There's still plenty of the tactile in Mauro's fabric relief images, which resemble figure drawings by Leonardo da Vinci in three dimensions. One especially fine piece, "Spanish Peaks," stretches human forms into a mountain range. It's Mother Earth at rest.