On the TownThe work of six young artists, which went on view at the RHA Gallery in Dublin this week, drew intrigued responses from guests. Guennady Krassilnikov, from Belarus, said the work of Julie Merriman "reminds me of a lot of Minsk. We have lots of buildings like that - post-war buildings".
The artist's mother, Angela, and sister Vyvienne, lent family support at the opening of the Eurojet Futures 2004 exhibition.
Work by Nevan Lahart, from Kilkenny, was described by fellow artist Alan McMahon as "lively and cartoon-like". Lahart's work is "very much aware of television . . . It's referencing contemporary society", he said.
Actor Killian Boland said he had come along to see the work of his friend, Sonja Suominen, who deconstructs the concept of the white cube and gallery space using photographs of the RHA Gallery at various stages of exhibition builds. Psychotherapist Siobhán Bereen and jewellery designer Áine Killeen agreed that Suominen's work was "very strong and beautiful".
Tiarnán Ó Ruairc, from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, was also among the visitors to the gallery on opening night.
Watchful Portrait (Caroline), comprising two plasma screens that act as windows into a three-dimensional world, is "an overlap between science and art", explained artist John Gerrard, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary. His work has already been shown at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, and in the Chelsea Art Museum in New York. His two sisters, Joy and Cathy Gerrard, were both there to congratulate him.
The other two artists in the show are Martin Healy and Ciaran Murphy.
Eurojet Futures 2004 runs at the RHA Gallery, 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2, until Sunday, January 9th