Phantom Avenue

Fenderesky Gallery, 103-105 Royal Ave, Belfast Fri-Sat 2-5pm Until Oct 13 fendereskygallery.com048-90235245

I’m caught, one more time, up on Phantom Avenue. At first glance, Makiko Nakamura’s shimmering abstract paintings can look austere, impassive and minimalist. But look again and you begin to realise that their polished, glassy surfaces enclose many densely packed, fragmentary layers.

Nakamura builds up her paintings gradually over long periods of time, adding and then partially erasing numerous coats of oil paint. Time is compressed in the finished pieces. Her intention is to evoke not only the duration of her working process but also our personal experience of time. You could say that the grids that form the basis of her compositions stand for the orderly calendar, the clock, while the amorphous, indeterminate layers of paint refer to the masses of memories, dreams and desires that make up our lives.

Japanese by birth, Nakamura has been based in Ireland for more than a decade. Prior to that she lived in Paris, drawn initially by the writings of Samuel Beckett.

Can’t See That? Catch This

Reciprocal Space Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin Until Oct 13