An Oasis Of Horror In A Desert Of Boredom

VISUAL, Old Dublin Rd, Carlow Tues-Sat 11am- 5.30pm, Sun 2-5pm Until Jan 6 visualcarlow.ie

Brian Maguire turns curator for this exhibition addressing a particularly grim subject: the relentless stream of murders around the Mexican northern border city Ciudad Juarez.

Against the background of Mexico’s appalling drug war, more than 14,500 people have died violently in Ciudad Juaraz since 1993. What stands out in this horror, however, are the systematic killings of some 1,200 young working women for no particular reason. Roberto Bolano approached the subject in his novel 2066, for which he used an epigraph taken from a poem in Baudelaire’s Fleurs de Mal. It also forms the show’s title.

Included are Maguire’s paintings (above) from trips to Mexico; works by the renowned Mexican artist Teresa Margolles dealing with the murders; Norwegian artist Lise Bjorne Linnert’s ongoing collaborative project; and documentation by Mark McLoughlin and Lanka Haouche Perren, who travelled with Maguire.

Can’t See That? Catch This

Still Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Sq, Dublin Until Oct 28 01-6714654

*This article was amended on October 7th, 2012 to correct a misspelling