Helena Gorey

It's not often that a review begins by referring to an entirely separate exhibition, but definite parallels exist between Helena Gorey's show at the Triskel, and John Philip Murray at the Vangard Gallery. For both artists, variations on a grid format defines the content of their paintings, but the inspirations come from very different places - Roman mosaics for Murray, a ploughed field for Gorey. And while the comparison is not explicit, the opportunity to compare and contrast is a worthy exercise for the viewer.

Helena Gorey's pursuit of the grid imagery is relentless - it's almost as if she needs to exorcise the Kilkenny field which has become imprinted on her consciousness. Its resonance for her is undeniable, but we all share similar experiences of visual phenomena which stay with us for ever; be they the setting sun through billowing smoke, the rustling of tall grass in the wind, or a creosote-stained wooden fence, and so on.

The small scale of these gouache paintings is at first rather disarming, as the catalogue reproductions build an expectation for large-scale colour field paintings. It's an odd thing, but I was pleased to discover the intimate size - a more personal private expression, rather than a bold confrontational standpoint. The format is subtly different across the selection as the size of the grid varies, as do the axes of the lines which waver from rigid horizontal and vertical. These shifts in emphasis and placement force you to examine carefully the qualities of each image, so hidden complexities emerge.

Runs until November 22nd.