The visual arts component of this year's Cork Arts Fest has strengths and weaknesses. The involvement of other establishments, however, particularly the Tig Fili Gallery, through its exhibition of work from the printmaking department at the Crawford College of Art and Design, helps broaden the appeal.
The main visual art event is Virtual Realities, an exhibition of works selected from the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The emphasis on new media and technologies within this show reflects the pluralism of contemporary art practice. As such, the institute is an appropriate forum for such concerns, since computer-rendered imagery, photo-based printing techniques, and the emphasis upon architectural/ clinical subjects, relate well with the institute.
Matt Mullican's light box transparencies are the focal point, featuring a virtual city - a futuristic vision perhaps of urban planning in the wake of environmental depletion. Langlands and Bell's blind embossed print may be picking up on this issue of the city as a vulnerable organism, its fragility expressed by the near invisibility of the actual image itself.
In all the exhibits, there is a commonality of style and purpose, as the artists present their subjects as mundane items, ironic subtexts, or matter-of-fact commentaries. There is Marcus Taylor's wall plug, Rachel Whiteread's demolished tower blocks, Angus Fairhurst's bemusing portrait, Grenville Davy's eye patterns and Gavin Turk's "pickling" of his own right hand. Overall, an interesting representation of current trends.
Runs until January 22nd
