In The Head

Cross Gallery, 59 Francis St, Dublin Until Nov 27 crossgallery.ie 01-4738978

It looks, in Clea van der Grijn’s recent paintings, as if the grid – that staple of abstract painting – is having a bad day. And it is, in a way.

The paintings came about when Grijn tried to visualise just what it is like to suffer migraine headaches. The results, according to her paintings, is the severe disruption of a sense of orderly normality.

Part of the challenge was to convey something intensely painful. The burnished, mixed- media surfaces are beautiful to look at, and they nod towards Makiko Nakamura’s grid-based abstracts, with their dense layering of time and memory.

Don’t miss Gareth Jenkins’ paintings downstairs in Nag. Derived from sections of maps, they have a nice feeling of distilled complexity about them. Small in scale, they are crisply made and exceptionally well-judged.

Can't see that? Catch this

DPRK Limerick City Gallery of Art Off-Site, Istabraq Hall, Limerick City Council Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm Until Dec 23