A modest but modish crowd attended Felim Egan's opening at the Kerlin Gallery last Thursday: Ruari Quinn, Stephen Rea, John Kelly, and Bono to name a few. Bono, who knows no restraint, greets the famously undemonstrative Felim with a big hug. Bystanders cringe. Felim is looking more raffish than usual with a little colourful fez and a dangling earring. Rumour suggests that he is courting Islam - the outfit certainly syggested Eastern sympathies.
It's a classy show. Felim's usual carefully wrought minimalist abstract pieces have evolved into something with more ado. Where before there was one little polished rectangle within the brushed surface, now there are 3 or 4. Many of them feature an arc - suggestive maybe of Islam's crescent? The colours are occasionally brighter than heretofore - there's red one and even a pink. But the most striking pieces are large and sombre - they have a stillness and mystery that suggests Rothko. The size ranges from 18 inches square to 60 inches square - and the prices from €3,250 to €21,000. About half of the 21 pieces had sold by he end of the night.
