Into the West
New paintings and sculpture by Galway-born Selma McCormack get the New Year off on the right foot at the Kenny Gallery in Galway. The artist recently relocated to Spiddal after spending most of her adult life rearing her family of four in Dublin. She has since exhibited widely and her work is included in public and private collections. Her works display a deep sensitivity, not least the bronzes and ceramics, described as 'finely turned embodiments of moments in time, of actions, of relationships and even of states of mind.' Also at the Kenny Gallery in February is a collection of paintings by Peter Fitzgerald, which charts his emergence in the early 1990s through to recent work. Fitzgerald was born in Cork, grew up in St. Louis and Seattle, and moved to Ireland with his family in 1968. A true cosmopolite, he worked in Oxford for some time before moving to Munich and then on to Paris. Also at the Kenny Gallery early in the New Year will be Brian Ferran. This artist has likewise amassed considerable international experience. His Kenny debut features new paintings based on Colmcille, a subject that has fascinated this artist since the 1960s. Selma McCormack: 11-31 January; Peter Fitzgerald: 1-21 February; Brian Ferran: 22 February - March
 
Cutting Edge Sculpture
The Peppercanister Gallery opens its 2008 gallery programme with a highly diverse group exhibition of contemporary sculpture. Gallery artists Sonja Landweer, Deirdre McLoughlin, Breon O'Casey, Graham Gingles, Robert Janz and Liam Belton will contribute work, alongside other prominent Irish sculptors such as Michael Warren, John Behan and Brian King. Work will vary from the figurative to the abstract. For the first time, the gallery will be showing two 'constructions' (abstract sculptures in oil and wood) from world-renowned Argentinian artist Adolfo Estrada. Women artists are well-represented in this exhibition too, including major works from Eilis O'Connell, Eileen McDonagh and new work from Carolyn Mulholland. The gallery will likewise present the work of emerging sculptor Sharon Lynch. Netherlands-based ceramicist Deirdre McLoughlin, renowned for the spare, elegant language of her work in clay, will exhibit for the first time at the gallery also. Sculpture: 31 January - 20 February
 
Niland Collection
This unmissable exhibition of a selection of paintings from the Niland Collection at the Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo showcases works by some of Ireland's most influential artists including Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Norah McGuinness, Gerard Dillon and Patrick Collins. The works explore the favourite themes of the landscape, inhabitants and traditions of Ireland, reflecting the broader development of Irish art in the 20th century through the contexts of national identity, international art influences and World War II. The Niland collection comprises over 300 works, drawings and prints by some of the leading 20th century Irish artists including Paul Henry, Sean Keating, Louis le Brocquy, Mainie Jellett, Barrie Cooke and Dorothy Cross. The collection is significant for its sizeable number of works by Jack B. Yeats many of which record experiences and memories of his time living in Sligo and its environs. Niland Collection: 18 January - 1 March 2008
 
Mobile Vehicle
Limerick City Gallery of Art and The Rubicon Gallery, Dublin start 2008 in style with a selection of large-scale drawings from Nick Miller's 'Truckscape' project. Miller is an artist who has moved with dexterity and conviction between portraiture, still life, landscape and the figure. For the last two decades, he has refined the focus of his interest working directly in the presence of his subject, keeping the process animated and charged by 'real presence'. While working from a foundation of tradition, he continues to re-invent those traditions into something contemporary and timeless. Since beginning 'Truckscape', Miller has worked on large-scale black ink drawings made on heavy-duty paper, scored and redrawn both with brush and power tools. The result is a series of intense, highly worked, mostly black and white images that have documented both the landscape and studio from which they are seen and drawn. Nick Miller: Limerick City Gallery of Art, 17 January - 29 February; Rubicon Gallery 17 January - 16 February
 
Alva Gallagher at the Hallward
Award-winning Donegal sculptor Alva Gallagher, who has recently concluded an exhibition at one of Europe's leading galleries, La Galerie SEMA in Paris, will participate in the Winter Group Exhibition of new work by gallery and invited artists at the Hallward Gallery in Dublin. Inspired by the characteristics of the ocean, Gallagher's sculptures in bronze and glass are included in several collections, including the National Collection at the National Museum - Collins Barracks, the OPW State Collection, and the BMW corporate collection. Alva Gallagher: until January 2008
 
Homeward bound
Patricia Burns' first solo exhibition will be held at the Vangard Gallery in Cork in January. Now living in Cork, Burns work has been featured in solo shows at the RHA Ashford Gallery, Droichead Arts Centre, South Tipperary Art Centre, the Courthouse Arts Centre, and the Catherine Hammond Gallery. Her paintings are included in the collections of the AIB, OPW and the Ballinglen archives. Burns is interested in the hidden narrative in overlooked or changing parts of the built landscape. Her current series of work deals with the subject of home, and the mysterious and unknowable element of other people's homes. It considers the deep human need for home and is informed by a sense of time passing. Patricia Burns: 17 January - 9 February