Tom Climent

Now in its eighth year, Cork Institute of Technology's Arts Fest offers a diverse mix of activities including music, literature, theatre and film. On the visual arts front, four exhibitions are each scheduled for rather short runs, including an extremely evocative body of work by Ben Riley showing at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh.

It is Tom Climent, though, who is the feature artist of the festival - a move all the more welcome considering that this exhibition is a return to form after his last solo show two years ago. Here we see again those bold and vital canvases which originally brought the artist acclaim.

The art-historical references which informed earlier work are less obvious here, as other starting-points open up, most notably the serendipitous discoveries made during the painting process. In many cases, you would need inside knowledge to determine the exact origin of the imagery (although the titles offer some hints). That said, trying to impose order and clarity on the abstraction is certainly a vital part of the complicated equation that is Climent's painting.

Two series' of smaller paintings stem directly from the compositions and colour schemes of the larger works. It's a useful developmental strategy that has borne some interesting results, particularly in the Beloved series, in which overtures to post-painterly abstraction are starting to creep in. This series shows Climent's ability to exercise alternatives: on one hand, the paint can be deeply sensuous and vibrant; on the other, it is a translucent medium which opens doors to intangible, disorienting spaces.

Runs until November 24th.