WHAT do you mean you've never heard of Stephen Craig? Well shame on you, you must have missed the Antrim born, IMMA Glen Dimplex Award nominee's show at Foderkoje Art, Cologne, You backslider you! You cannot have made the effort to see, evidently, his German solo exhibitions at Dormstadt and Frankfurt. What about something closer to home? Well there you have us: as far as the Irish Museum of Modern Art knows, Craig has never had a show in Ireland.

So, there can be no denying that in choosing the shortlist for this year's award the organisers of the £15,000 annual contemporary art prize have cast their nets far. Whether they have cast their nets wide, however, is open to debate. There are six nominations for the award and of these five - sculptor Dorothy Cross, painter Willie McKeown, Maurice O'Connell who works in many media, the sound art team of Gary Phelan and Mark McLoughlin, and photographer Paul Seawright, have either had solo shows or contributed to group shows, in Dublin's Kerlin Gallery, a coincidence which aspiring, nominees might be foolish to ignore.

The winner of the IMMA Glen Dimplex Award 1997 will be announced in May.