Fresh from the opening of the Art Store on South William Street, boyish Dublin art dealer Conor Firth continued his one-man mission to bring Ireland's most innovative new artists to a wider audience with the unveiling of his second Industria Art exhibit at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre on Tuesday. Bright young things Joanna Kidney and Lara Cobden both of whom had work on the show. They reported that recent changes in location had fired their creative juices - the pair decamped from their Kilkenny base at the start of the year, Joanna to Dublin's Broadstone studios, Lara to Valentia, Co Kerry, as artist in residence at the Forge heritage centre.
Dusseldorf based painter Rod Coyne revealed plans to end his nine-year German exile and return to Ireland with fiancee Anja Scchutze, encouraged no doubt by the success of his contribution to 1998's An Oireachtas exhibit at the Guinness Hopstore.
Co Clare photographer Christy McNamara, meanwhile, spent the evening hailing the genius of his partner, painter Catherine Phillips. The couple plan to build a new studio at their Spancil Hill base and may just have room for another artist.
Also checking out the exhibits was documentary-maker Ruan McGowan, wife Kerry and baby boy Rion, all recently returned from their wedding in Jamaica.