Monday
To the Present
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin Until Jun 25
kerlin.ie
The work of Merlin James can seem oblique and idiosyncratic, probably because in some respects it is. At the same time, however, James consistently engages with the nature and history of painting in thoughtful, ingenious and disarming ways. He is a quietly persuasive artist in an age of theatrical grandstanders.
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Olympia Theatre, Dublin 8pm €26.90
ticketmaster.ie
They have stepped into the shoes of such UK indie bands as Mystery Jets, The Cribs and The Kooks, and it remains to be seen just how long this Wales- formed unit will continue to fly the flag. For now, though, Catfish and the Bottlemen look set to gain even more of an Irish fanbase; it wasn't too long ago that the band played Whelan's, remember.
Tuesday
Éire 1916 san Ealaín Chomhaimseartha/1916 Ireland in Contemporary Art
Crawford Art Gallery, Cork Until Aug13
crawfordartgallery.ie
2016: Forecast of the Next Century
Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork Until Jul 3
glucksman.org
Two complementary surveys that look back and forward, both tied to 1916. At the Crawford, Larry Lambe commissioned Dermot Bolger, Alice Maher (pictured is a detail of Remember Me: Scrimshaw on ostrich egge portrait of Alice Milligan), David Lilburn, Rita Duffy, Padraig Lynch, Robert Ballagh, Sandro Chia, Lorcan Lambe, Sean Hillen, Michael Cullen, Sonja Landweer and Michael Coady to reflect on Ireland since the Rising.
At the Glucksman, another group of artists imagine Ireland 100 years hence: Amanda Coogan, Maud Cotter, Gary Coyle, Eleanor Duffin, Damien Flood, Siobhán Hapaska, Ramon Kassam, Sam Keogh, Ruth Lyons, Eoin McHugh, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Mairead O’hEocha, Niamh O’Malley, Darn Thorn, Lee Welch and the Centre for Genomic Gastronomy. Curated by Chris Clarke, Caitlín Doherty and Emma-Lucy O’Brien.
Wednesday
Larry Coryell
Sugar Club, Dublin 8.30pm €20/€15
thesugarclub.com
Guitar legend Larry Coryell, a pioneer of jazz fusion, has a "played with" tally that runs from Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix to Stephane Grapelli. The Texas-born virtuoso is a regular visitor to these shores over the past couple of years, so he clearly enjoys the company of a Dublin A-team rhythm section: bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady. Expect to queue alongside every other guitarist in the greater Dublin area.
Alice Phoebe Lou
Workman's Club, Dublin 8pm €13
theworkmansclub.com
Cape Town singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou has made quite the name for herself in Germany, but it's time to move on, seek out new places to impress ande different people to engage with. Lou brings to Dublin, then, a sturdy display of beatnik tunes imbued with jazz, blues, soul and folk. You won't go home empty-handed, that's for sure.
Thursday
Maverick Sabre
Róisín Dubh, Galway 9pm €21/€19
roisindubh.net
London-born, Waterford-raised Michael Stafford visits some of the country's smaller venues in what has been billed as "an intimate evening with" tour. In other words, expect unplugged performances, eyeball-to- eyeball contact, and some extremely vibrant and varied (and quiet-ish) hip-hop tunes from his two albums, 2012's Lonely Are the Brave and last year's Innerstanding.
CARE
Draíocht, Blanchardstown. May 19 8pm €18/€14 draiocht.ie;
Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire. May 21 8pm €18/€14 paviliontheatre.ie
Who cares? The question is neither brusque or rhetorical in WillFredd Theatre’s astutely judged piece of contemporary theatre based on the work of hospices and the treatment of patients in the final stages of illness. Rather than succumb to automatic solemnity over a grave subject, director Sophie Motley and her collaborators explore a system and the people who deal with it allowing for an abundance of styles and techniques to make a restless bricolage, one that that still aims for emotional effect.
Hospice workers are seen explaining what they do over dinner-party conversation, songs about breathing exercises channel the mordant wit of RD Laing and crossword puzzles hint at grim solutions. The system it shows is not impersonal, but a necessary paradox, as formal and as consoling as a ritual.
Landscape Machine
The Dock, St George's Terrace, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim Until Jun 11
thedock.ie
Marielle MacLeman takes her title from the celebrated Italian garden city project at Carbonia, once a vast coal mine. She has in mind "the shifting narratives of a site". Taking materials and motifs from inner-city wastelands and rural retreats, MacLeman makes works that explore our perceptions, management and use of landscape. Her sculptural works link directly to their sources and their cultural roles and meanings in terms of materials and forms.
