Hazel Walker - who, incidentally, is a Scottish artist and not an Irish one - made a firm impression with her previous exhibition at the same gallery' it was subtle, elegant and beautifully painted, with a certain element of mystery added. This second one is in the same vein, and once again I seem to see a definite affinity with the St Ives School though Hazel Walker is, of course, from a much younger generation.
These are decidedly "inward" pictures, though they do not wear their heart of emotions on both sleeves. Slightly gnomic, rather withdrawn and with a veiled, reticent quality, they hint at something more often than they speak out. Though there seem to be landscape connotations, they stick to a flat, uptilted plane in which occasional fissures, lines and half-glimpsed shapes emerge slowly and tellingly.
The result may occasionally call to mind the work of Roger Hilton and perhaps that of Tapies too, but the individuality is unmistakable and pervasive. In spite of the misty, indefinite spaces and sense of distance from the viewer, there is also a sharp graphic quality which stops them from becoming vague.
What they lack in some cases, is the "image" - for lack of a better word - which stamps itself on your mind's eye and remains there. There is not quite that final quality of definition and power which turns an exhibition from being very good into something really exceptional. Nevertheless, there is a solid core of pictures which are qualified to hang in the best company and hold their own.
Runs until March 21st.