Art

The best art exhibitions this week – from 2°C in Dublin to Outposts in Cork

Also, Arrival in Dún Laoghaire and David Eager Maher’s Locus

‘Fruit Tree’, David Eager Maher, 2017, Oliver Sears Gallery

Aidan Dunne's face
Aidan Dunne
Fri Dec 15 2017 - 05:00

“2°C”

Olivier Cornet Gallery 3 Great Denmark Street, (beside Belvedere College), Dublin, December 17th-February 15th, oliviercornetgallery.com

Olivier Cornet has a knack for curating good thematic shows, allowing artists to affiliate their work to a subject – in this case climate change – without distorting their customary practices. Here he elicits thoughtful, nuanced responses from a number of fine artists including Jordi Fornies, Claire Halpin, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Yanny Petters, Freda Rupp, Aisling Conroy, Vicky Smith and more.

‘Awning’, David Eager Maher, 2017, Oliver Sears Gallery

“Arrival”

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Biennial open exhibition. Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Until January 21st, dlrcoco.ie/en/arts/

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“Orientation”

Selected work by artists working in the Drogheda region. Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, Co Louth. Until March 3rd, droichead.com

Arrival and Orientation, that makes sense. Ah, but they are two separate events. Arrival is dlr LexIcon's biennial open-submission group show, this installment selected by Gemma Tipton, who points out that a completed work is, for the artist, an arrival and so it can be too, for the viewer. Orientation, also a group show, this time selected by artist Dorothy Smith, focuses on artists working in a sometimes overlooked but in fact very creative area. Here the logic of the title is that focus shifts and preconceptions are put aside as artists allow in the influence of their surroundings and the work process.

“Winter Group Exhibition 2017”

Solomon Gallery, Balfe St, Dublin. Until January 27th, solomonfineart.ie

The Solomon has long excelled at the art of the Christmas show, though in general the word has been widely replaced by winter. You’ll find a rich, concentrated selection at the Solomon: John Behan, Patrick O’Reilly, Comhghall Casey, Orla de Brí, Bridget Flinn and Tom Climent feature in a fine line-up. Other winter shows to see include the Taylor Galleries (Kildare St, Dublin, until February 10th), Hillsboro Fine Art (Parnell Sq West, Dublin, until December 23rd) and the Custom House Gallery (The Quay, Westport, Co Mayo, until January 21st)

"Outposts: Global borders and national boundaries"

The Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork. Until March 11th. Glucksman.org Chris Clarke and Fiona Kearney, in association with University College Cork's Nuala Finnegan, curate a group show by contemporary artists whose work concerns "the personal and political mapping of place" in a world criss-crossed by divisions of one kind or another, an era of globalisation, mass migrations, renewed nationalism, and all manner of deliberate divisiveness and wall-building. Participants include Willie Doherty, Dragana Jurisic, Brian Maguire, Dara McGrath, Bouchra Khalili, Teresa Margolic, Larissa Sansour, Javier Téllez, Jun Yang and more.

“Locus”

Oliver Sears Gallery, 29 Molesworth St, Dublin. Until January 25th, oliversearsgallery.com Memorably described as "a 19th-century explorer living in 21st-century Wicklow", David Eager Maher makes paintings that are, on the one hand, readily understandable in their realism and, on the other, utterly slippery and elusive when you try to pin down what you're looking at. Inside merges with out, the scale of things jumps erratically within one notionally coherent image, two dimensions morph into three, and unlikely juxtapositions are the rule. It's all delivered with great élan and unshowy virtuosity.