Ray Lawlor

This exhibition is something of a retrospective as it includes work ranging from the early door paintings to more recent sculptures…

This exhibition is something of a retrospective as it includes work ranging from the early door paintings to more recent sculptures - the distinction between the disciplines blurred by a shared emphasis on found objects. These include unidentifiable trash, as well as objects which once clearly had a practical use but are now a staple of Ray Lawlor's manifest Art Povera.

The wall pieces constitute the majority of the show, with the particularly successful examples demonstrating how Lawlor must have wallowed in the energy and inventiveness required to make something out of nothing. Alright (work in progress), is outstanding for its dynamism and tension, as the 3-D objects, including a violin case, are challenged by the tonal shifts present in the 2-D sections. Less successful however are the three or four pieces which lack such structure and depth and consequently cannot - due to the roughness of the materials - qualify as subtle Minimalism.

But it is in the four free-standing sculptures and especially the appropriately titled The Trundle Machine, that you really see Lawlor getting to the bones of his materials. These pieces are rugged and unrefined and strangely enough seem to induce something approaching reverence, as you pick over the detritus of our everyday existence and consider its origins.

Until February 6th.