Art gallery openings are the most fashionable events at which to be seen. This may be revelatory news across the Irish Sea - the London Times certainly found it so last week - but here in Ireland gallery bashes have long been a major draw for the fashion crowd.
Proof was offered by the turnout earlier this month for Rolling Stone Ron Wood's unveiling in Dublin of his recent paintings. And, as if to underline the point, a pair of recent openings in the capital drew just as impressive - and well-dressed - attendances, even though none of the artists showing work was a rock star.
On Thursday evening last week, the Green on Red Gallery presented new etchings and photolithographs by Catherine Lynch. Spread over two spaces in the capital, the Green on Red is owned by Jerome O Drisceoil, many of whose quietly distinctive clothes are made by his brother Patrick. Other siblings, Tadg and Simon, are dressed from the same source and this association undoubtedly gives the gallery a definite edge in the fashion stakes.
The following night, the Temple Bar Gallery hosted a reception to mark The Conspiracy Paintings, a series of 10 canvases by MacDermott and MacGough. This pair of artists - known respectively as David and Peter, but only to their friends - have done much to enliven Dublin's cultural life since moving here from New York last year. Their mode of dress is unashamedly anachronistic, as they demonstrate a particular fondness for clothing from the first decade of this century, complete with spats, elaborate waistcoats and wing-collared shirts.
MacDermott may also be spotted around the city centre from time to time wearing knee breeches and buckled shoes. Not surprisingly, many members of their social circle are equally interested in fashion, even if the styles chosen are of more recent vintage.
SO who are the smartest gallery attenders right now? Well, there is author Dorothy Walker - just completing a book on Irish art this century - and her great friend Ulli de Breffny, both of whom are vernissage veterans. Then there are former models Rosemarie Mulcahy - now a distinguished art historian - and Arleen Hogan, who runs the Friends of the National Gallery, actress and film-maker Aine O'Connor, chair of the Hospice Foundation Marie Donnelly and her fellow-member of the Douglas Hyde Gallery board, Kathy Gilfillan.
Fashion designers regularly sighted at exhibition openings include Lainey Keogh, John Rocha, Louise Kennedy and Marc O'Neill. Aside from the Green on Red, the Rubicon (owned by the ever-stylish Josephine Kelliher), the Kerlin and the Jo Rain galleries are also favourites with the fashion pack. You can spot this crowd, too, at the multiplicity of shows in Kilkenny Arts Week next month and at any opening in west Cork, especially if it takes place at the old boathouse in Castletownshend or in Angela Flower's Rosscarbery home.
