Olivier Cornet Gallery

I'm not biased - Olivier Cornet has some beautiful art on display in his new gallery. Modern with a soul. Beautiful colours, interesting textures. I wanted to buy it all - or at least 90%! And I'm fussy about art (except for my own, which I love unconditionally - they're all my babies after all).

Olivier and I go way way back. 1987-1988, I'd say. The early days of localisation. Softrans. That's a long time ago. I was a senior translator (with at most a year's experience!), he was a new recruit. But he was the best translator in the French team. We worked together for years. I became language coordinator, then project manager. He went freelance. And then, I don't remember exactly when, we lost touch. I thought he had gone back to France. He thought I had gone back to Belgium.

And then, yesterday, on our way back from the Lighthouse cinema in Smithfield, we cut across the far end of Temple Bar, and found ourselves on a street I wasn't familiar with. I saw a board outside an art gallery. It said "Olivier Cornet Gallery". I said to BB - I used to know a guy called Olivier Cornet. I was puzzled. Then I looked inside the door. And Olivier had the same look on his face as me. OMG. Unbelievable. Here he was, in  his own art gallery. He's been working in art for years, and only recently opened there, at the Wooden Building, on Exchange Street Upper (it's at the Dublin castle end of Temple Bar, not far from Queen of Tarts and the lovely Gutter bookshop).

If you're into art, pop in and have a look. You won't regret it. Check out the Artists section of his website for pictures of the art. I'm particularly fond of the pieces by Sean Mulcahy and Jordi Forniés.