Siobhán Hapaska/ Stephen McKenna

Kerlin Gallery, Anne's Lane, Sth Anne St, Dublin Mon-Fri 10am-5.45pm, Sat 11am- 4.30pm Until Jan 19 kerlin.ie01-6709093

It’s an unlikely pairing, at first glance. Stephen McKenna’s pictorial meditations on Classical European civilisation and Siobhán Hapaska’s spiky, challenging sculptures. Perhaps McKenna’s pastoral can provide the context, the imaginary landscape, for Hapaska’s 3D constructions. It doesn’t quite work out like that, but it does work out.

On reflection, McKenna is always more inclined to seek out challenging juxtaposition than cosy certainty.There’s a quizzical, analytical quality to the paintings he shows, works that ask questions of a cultural legacy that blurs from the coolly Classical to heady and dark Romanticism.

They are well matched with excellent new pieces (above) by Hapaska, substantial sculptural constructions employing natural and engineered materials. We can read them as visualisations

of the abrasive meeting of culture and nature, control and chaos, but that by no means exhausts the many potential interpretations they allow – and their tremendous energy.

Can’t See That? Catch This

To Start with, Let’s Remove the Colour Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin Tues-Sat 11am-6pm Until Feb 2