New Light

THE Solomon Gallery I seems to be the only gallery in Dublin which is prepared to mount works by contemporary glass artists - …

THE Solomon Gallery I seems to be the only gallery in Dublin which is prepared to mount works by contemporary glass artists - vide its exhibition last year of the American artist Dale Chihuly. The present show includes work by four workers in glass, and"it is very well worth seeing.

Galia Amsel shows simplified, quasi geometric pieces, with a circular bias, and with a discreet but individual colour sense. They are elegant, austere and beautifully made, though the formal device of adding a kind of motif which looks rather like a film reel on to abstract shapes does not always "work". Maria Amidu is close to minimalism in her themes, which look like partly unrolled parchments, and which are graceful, understated and with a peculiar effect of fragility.

Keiko Mukaide's inventive, very varied shapes encompass harp motifs and some quite complex interplays of rhythms, though she rather underplays the element of colour. The most interesting personality of the four, in my opinion, is Gayle Mathias, who creates a whole array of small, strongly individuated, upstanding pieces, some of which are figures, while others are virtually miniature architecture. They merge on preciosity, but are delightfully inventive and have an almost fairy tale quality. Her more "formal", abstract creations are less interesting.