Phillip Allen: Paintings

Kerlin Gallery, Anne’s Lane, Sth Anne St, Dublin Until Jul 4 01-6709093

London-born Phillip Allen graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1992 and has since gone on to establish a healthy international reputation for his lively, inventive paintings. They are playful constructions, delighting in the use of vivid colour, usually featuring thick masses of pigment along the top and bottom of the composition. It is as though the artist has excavated the space in between, an imaginative space from which various elaborate and fantastic constructions emerge.

You’re never quite sure what Allen is going to do next and, given the improvisational quality of his patterns and motifs, he probably doesn’t either. Besides paintings, this exhibition includes a number of his drawings. Even though sculptural blocks of pigment are a feature of his paintings, he says that drawing is at the heart of everything he does, and it will be interesting to see how he works in two dimensions.

Can’t see that? Catch this

It’s the season for fine art graduate exhibitions, and NCAD, DLIADT, DIT and GMIT will all be on view during the coming week