Barrie Cooke

A major figure in the development of painting in Ireland, Barrie Cooke has been resident there since 1954. Spanning a career of more than five decades, this exhibition includes large paintings and sculptural work that reveal his fascination with the infinite variety and flux of nature, as well as with the nude figure. A passionate fisherman, his concern with water is based on its elemental qualities yet the horrific beauty of polluted environments is irresistible. Cooke’s palette is rich, at times explosive; colour, he says, can be the closest equivalent you can find to an emotion, a catalyst for beginning a painting. He has collaborated with prominent poets Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and John Montague who will open this exhibition.

This exhibition is co-produced by the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.