From a biographical point of view, the three artists in this exhibition fit together very comfortably. All are of the same age group, all have had varying degrees of recognition, and each is producing quite distinctive work.
Tom Climent's preoccupation with the old masters has shifted slightly in that he is now working directly onto reproductions rather than using them as a reference point. His intervention is selective, with thin washes of paint masking sections of the original composition. Paradoxically, this rather economical approach is actually quite bold, in the sense that withholding his painterly skill is quite unexpected, provocative even.
Martin Finnan's trademark textures have also become less of a feature in his painting. His stark, pseudo-childlike imagery is by turns gathering an expressionist/symbolist foothold, with semiotic mark-making traversing Tony O'Malley territory. But it is in work like Who Owns Them Hungry Hills that Finnan is bringing together the various strands with clarity and purpose, leading to an interesting fusion between fragile decoration and innocent narrative.
Brian Smyth's paintings employ a warm, reduced palette which teeters ever so close to monochrome. He has commonality with Climent in that he seems to be drawn to the past - the imagery pervaded by a sense of fading nostalgia. The paintings of the reclining female figures are particularly atmospheric, the features seeming to melt into an understated, yet fluidly painted background.
Runs until Saturday