Irish Contemporary Ceramics

THE work of 20 odd artists is on view in this exhibition, which covers a range of styles - and materials too - from relatively straightforward ware to elaborate, quasi conceptual pieces covering a good deal of floor space. It is in no sense a "thematic" or unified affair; variety and individuality are the keynotes, rather than group identity.

Cormac Boydell, for instance, shows handsome pieces with painted heads etc. which still can be regarded as dishes or plates, however unlikely they are to be used in run of the mill domesticity. The teapots of Peter Meanley and Ann Marie Robinson are, perhaps, slightly more functional, but again, it seems rather a shame to use them much the same is true of Neil Read's "saw tooth platters."

However Deirdre McLoughlin, Val Dennison, Claire Curneen are virtually ceramic sculptors, in their very different ways. The little fat ladies of Stefanie Dinkelbach, though verging on "fun" pieces, belong somewhere inside the same category. Elizabeth Caffrey's elaborate Origins No I may have some of the fingerprints of Richard Long, using his circle on a floor format, but imaginatively it suggests both seashore imagery and stony shapes.

Henry Pim's slightly surreal wall pieces have genuine originality; he constructs strange miniature buildings which seem like parodies of the Industrial Age, and curious, rather dense works which suggest a kind of scenario which remains just out of sight. Sarah Ryan's stoneware shapes have an organic quality which invokes both seashells and plant life, and Jim Dennison's Bronzino Breakfast Cup is witty and well thought out.

Lisa Young's All Talk Safe Stories verges interestingly on installation art, while by contrast, Takashi Yasuda makes bowls and sauce bowls which are both traditional and highly individual. There are, however, relatively few weak or dull exhibits in an exhibition which leaves you with the feeling that ceramics in Ireland are very much alive.