Primal Means

Curated by Samuel Walsh, this exhibition brings together 10 artists bound by an interest in drawing

Curated by Samuel Walsh, this exhibition brings together 10 artists bound by an interest in drawing. The selection is not intended as a comprehensive overview of techniques and processes, since other drawing systems (conceptual based, 3D drawing with wire, etc.) would clearly form and define such an intent.

That said, the selection is by no means safe or amenable. Take Maria Simonds-Gooding, who incises lines into plaster to represent features within landscape, or Mary Fitzgerald who draws into oil paint on glass to reveal photo-collages hidden behind. Even Ciaran Lennon's gouache's have more in common with painting than drawing.

Mostly, though, the point of departure is through traditional materials - something which usually suggests that drawing is used to record the visible world. But here, John Keating is the only obvious advocate of this route as his large-scale charcoals render figure and drapery with near classical precision.

Cecily Brennan's use of female form to investigate gender issues, Barrie Cooke's minimalist yet monumental rock studies and Donald Teskey's expressive landscapes are rooted in observation. However these artists illustrate how interpretation and assimilation help shape an equally tenable definition of drawing. But it is in Hughie O'Donoghue's contributions that expressive possibilities are really felt, as molten lead and paint are used to map land and sky through intuition rather than draftsman-like facility.

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Purist abstraction is found in Charlie Tyrell's tiny pencil drawings, where geometry and calligraphic marks do battle, creating a wealth of tonal and textural details. While finally, Michael Coleman has drawn directly on to wall-space, helping to shape a living perception of the process - although the final images would have benefited from the aforementioned qualities found in Tyrell's contributions.

Runs until September 4th