A wonderful and occasionally startling profusion of blues—cobalt, translucent, marine, and of course, Middle—greets you at this ambitious and sprawling retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The curators Debra Burchett-Lere and Peter Selz, …

As someone who comes at the art scene from a lit background, I admit I have my preferences when it comes to picking events and shows to see. I’m much more apt to latch onto …