Enignum And Other Stories

Oliver Sears Gallery, 29 Molesworth St, Dublin Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm Until Jan 27 01-6449459 oliver searsgallery.com

Still quite young, Joseph Walsh has in little more than 10 productive working years made many outstanding studio furniture pieces combining technical virtuosity and conceptual strength. Is it craft or is it sculpture? Well, what Walsh makes has been described as “functional sculpture”, but it doesn’t really matter when you’re face to face with the work itself.

Walsh likes swooping, curvilinear forms and intricate, foliated patterns that echo the internal structure of the wood’s grain and growth rings. You never forget that he is using, and exploring, a living, growing material as he generates objects of restless dynamism, some quite audaciously unlike anything you’d think of as furniture. He is also attentive to surface qualities in terms of both colour and touch.

It’s challenging, sophisticated work that will make you think – and prompt you to look again.

Can’t See That? Catch This

Between the Lines Rubicon Gallery, 10 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin Tues-Sat noon-5pm Until Dec 23 01-6708055