Interest and acclaim for Phillip Allen's individualistic brand of modernist psychedelic painting has grown steadily over the last decade. His distinct paintings depict an imagined space which is always framed at the top and bottom by luscious rosettes of thick paint that allude to the idea of a paradisiacal garden but also to paint itself and its sculptural qualities. 
'Photography is something concrete, a perception, what you see with your eyes. And it happens so fast that you may not see anything at all! To photograph is to paint with light! The flaws are part of it. That's what makes the poetry. And for that you need a bad camera. If you want to be famous, you have to be worse at something than everyone else in the world!' Miroslav Tichy. An exhibtiion of Tichy's photographs is on in Dublin until January 2009. 
Entitled 'Chimera', Janaina Tschäpe's first exhibition in Ireland is structured around the genetics of this fabled beast from ancient myth. Tschäpe creates an environment of dream and fantasy, where the everyday world metamorphoses into a mythical place, populated by fabricated creatures and florescent vegetation. 
'At what point will common sense prevail' by Irish artist Garrett Phelan is an online audio project, consisting of 26 sound works which will be presented for a 5 year period on a dedicated website. Visit www.atwhatpoint....com to listen to Phelan's 'Regurgitated Monologues'. 
A newly commissioned installation by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is on view outside the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in Cork until 7 October. Entitled 'Monumental Junkyard', the work, consisting of a pile of 56 marble doors, resembles a junkyard of building material that is hard to avoid in China's burgeoning megacities. Ai Weiwei is an outspoken critic of China's rapid development at the expense of remembering its past - of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Ai Weiwei recently said, 'Can a nation be celebrated and be so proud with this ignoring of its past? It's this kind of fake smile which is disgusting.' 
'Play Safe' is a group exhibition exploring the interest of artists in several aspects of the creativity of play, from children's inventiveness and adventure to artists who use new media to explore the area of computer games. While play has developed into a sophisticated means of simulating war it has also become a method of peaceful protest against war and other injustices. In an increasingly regulated society, play is one of the few remaining arenas where scenarios can be tested without risk of censure. 'Play Safe' encompasses play from the innocent play-acting of children to adults who return to a form of play as a political tool. 
Despite the Royal Hibernian Academy's hotel lobby aesthetic, Vanessa Donoso Lopéz's exhibition, 'Establishing a Mission' succeeds in transforming the unspiring enclave known as the Ashford Gallery, into an all encompassing, meticulously considered domestic arrangement of cherished collectables, resuscitated sewing machines, dismembered figurines, childish compass drawings, defunct furniture, and gaudy wall paper. The show's last day is 2 August. 
Inspired by the presence of the studio of Francis Bacon, which is on permanent view at the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, THE STUDIO sets out to investigate the role, the idea and function of the artist's studio as the main space of activity in the making and production of art. As part of the exhibition a symposium on the role of the studio in creative production today will take place on 8 and 9 February. Speakers include artists, curators and critics such as Iwona Blazwick (below), Daniel Buren, Thomas Demand and Liam Gillick. 
Copyright 2003-2008 © The Saatchi Gallery :
London Contemporary Art Gallery
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