Barrie Cooke's links with the west of Ireland are strong and go back a long way. When he first came to Ireland in the 1950s he lived in Co Clare, and for most of the present decade he has lived in Co Sligo, looking out over Lough Arrow. The common denominator is fishing, which has also led him to Co Mayo and has informed his work from the beginning, sharpening its feeling for nature and, especially, its zest for water: he even handles oil paint as though it's a form of watercolour. It's appropriate, then, that in the western city framed by lake, river and ocean, his Arts Centre show, opening today, is the centrepiece exhibition of this year's Galway Arts Festival.
Aidan Dunne