Weird, slightly nauseating yet also beautiful; Francis Halsall looks forward to Siobhán Hapaska’s autumn exhibition at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin.
Siobhán Hapaska’s complex sculptural installations are often constructed through the juxtaposition of opposites. Her work throws up relationships between things that might seem contradictory at first glance. These contradictions involve not only the themes of her art, but also the materials she uses; the structure of the pieces; and her working methods. Hard/soft; furry/spiky; made/grown; natural/synthetic; machines/plants; urban/rural; human/animal; these are just some of the dichotomies that frequently appear in her sophisticated and meticulously fashioned sculptures. Perhaps these all speak to a more general and overarching theme with vital contemporary relevance: the fraught relationship between culture and nature; or of humans to their environment. And in doing so her work broaches important social and political issues as well as sculptural ones.
Brian McAvera sees Colin Davidson wrestle with sexual politics in his new series of Nudes on view this autumn at Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin.
Can the pragmatic 21st-century East range at Trinity College Dublin match the 18th-century splendour of the West Front? James Howley appraises recent developments on the campus
Behind the bustle and colour of the 2016 graduate shows Gerry Walker finds a wealth of well-researched, accomplished projects.