Barrie Cooke — Works from the Studio
The National Gallery of Ireland showed good judgment in purchasing Big Hot Tub from Barrie Cooke’s current show at the Oliver Sears gallery in Dublin. Not alone has the museum got a signature painting by a major artist, but it has also acquired a depiction of another distinguished figure in Irish art: Camille Souter. She was a friend of Cooke, who died in 2014, and the inspiration for the nude in Big Hot Tub, above. The works in this show are from Cooke’s studio and comprise a mini-retrospective — spanning his career from 1960 to 2008. The quality and diverse range of the work will come as a pleasant surprise to many Cooke admirers who grew disenchanted with his late-career obsession with rock snot and pollution. There’s a glowering Sheela na Gig from 1960 that emanates primitive energy, a number of intimate nudes, and some evocative watercolours from a visit he made to South Africa in 2007.
Oliver Sears gallery, Dublin Mon-Fri 10-5.30, Sat by appointment 353 1 644 9459