ANTHONY Pilbro's first exhibition in Ireland, In Search of the Poetical, shows us an artist of confidence and evident ability. Pilbro states that in his work he is moving away from the formal figurative roots of expressionism towards pictorial abstraction, and this exhibition, which comprises paintings, etchings and monoprints, gives an indication of the artist's more recent development.

The large canvases are highly spatial works, organic inner landscapes with explosive deconstructed foci. The palette of mainly primary colours, is subtly muted and applied in an authoritative and painterly manner, and, the overall effect is dynamic yet meditative.

By comparison the smaller paintings on paper are brighter and more fiercely gestural, possess in a vibrant spontaneity less evident in the larger, more premeditated canvases.

In the monoprints, the emphasis is on the intense use of colour, and while the compositions are attractive, they lack the persuasiveness and insight of the paintings The etchings are more, spatially directed. They are tine, intricate works.