Niw in its 12th year, the Iontas small works exhibition, which was the brainchild of Sligo Art Gallery, must rank as one of the Republic's most important art events. This view is reflected in its rising profile, not least as the exhibition now travels to both sides of the Border.
A proviso requires artists to submit artworks of modest dimensions. The result is a bewildering range of works from 127 artists, with a uniformly high standard.
Paintings dominate in terms of volume, ranging from the beautifully rendered naturalistic realism of Eugene Rooney's coastal scene to Comhghall Casey's charming and precise oils of two toy cars. Other paintings cross the divide between objectivity and abstraction.
In the middle are artists who abstract landscape, such as Niki Purcell, who shows vibrant and stylised clouds over a meadow, Jonathan Hunter, who shows a spontaneous woodland scene, and Bridget Flannery, who shows a restrained and subtle marsh painting.
The printmakers are also well represented. James McCreary's precise etchings of rolling landscapes are eyecatching despite their miniature scale. Contrast this with Colin Martin's brilliantly expressive and fluid etching of a running dog. Of the sculptors, Jean Conroy's Little Silver Dress in bronze is sweet yet unsettling, Betty Newman-Maguire's Bed Of Truth has an iconic quality and the mini installation by Clodagh Emoe, featuring flickering lights and a motorised insect, is a wonderful oddity.
Runs until September 29th
