Sean Shanahan

Newman House, 85-86 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin Tues-Fri noon, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, Sat 2pm, 3pm, 4pm Aug 5-28 01-4757255

Newman House, 85-86 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin Tues-Fri noon, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, Sat 2pm, 3pm, 4pm Aug 5-28 01-4757255

For some time Sean Shanahan’s paintings consisted of monochromatic expanses of flat-painted MDF, minimalist objects that managed to enhance a range of architectural settings, including the first-floor galleries of the Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane. His work has evolved since then and tends to be more complicated, with separate panels of differing sizes juxtaposed. Now, Michael Dempsey of Heliotrope curates a project in which Shanahan addresses the interior space of Newman House on St Stephen’s Green, a southside counterpart to Charlemont House on Parnell Square.

The architectural setting, Dempsey says, was designed to inspire a sense of permanence and stability. Shanahan’s modular installation aims to create a dialogue between the decorative and the functionally geometric nature of the building, with its overlay of decorative plasterwork. The work is very much about the building, and its history. You can visit it at hourly intervals as listed above.

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Bubble, Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin

Aidan Dunne

Aidan Dunne

Aidan Dunne is a visual arts critic and contributor to The Irish Times