The film installations and photographic works by Dublin artist Clare Langan are a fine example of how a contextually homogenous presentation can contribute hugely to the success of an exhibition. But this show offers so much more than just tidy presentation. Langan's work has substance, depth, brooding melancholy and breath-taking beauty. All the imagery stems from four short films: Storm, Too Dark for Night, Forty Below and Floodlight. Each sequence explores related themes, with the momentum of natural forces marking the passage of time and its influence as a progenitor of human displacement.
The subjects have an inherent beauty, moving in a broad sweep across desert sands, turbulent skyscapes, arctic wastes and deep waters. There are examples of the artist's intervention during the recording of these sequences, where imagery is manipulated at the source, rather than at the post-production stage, by painting onto the lens. This gives a textural substance, not normally associated with film-based installation work.
The images have a timeless eloquence and if you had to assign an art historical label, the fictitious term "minimalist gothic" might suffice. Some might find the theme of human kind's vulnerability in the face of the irresistible force overtly plaintive. Alternatively, the awe-inspiring power of nature could be seen as inspiring.
Runs until November 3rd
