Beneath a gibbous moon, on a crisp, cold January night, the stars came out for Guggi’s Kerlin Gallery opening. Them, new paintings and sculptures, is now showing, and among the crowd that evening were Gavin Friday, Caroline and Andrea Corr, Richard Gorman, Leah Hewson, Eoin Colfer, Jim Jarmusch, James Hanley and Orla de Brí. And every artist’s favourite colour – red-dot red – was everywhere.
The dramatic decor in the new Kicky’s, headlined by Leah Hewson’s retro, psychedelic, flash-bang-wallop artwork exploding over what, in theatrical circles, they’d call the proscenium arch, masterfully showcases the players on stage in the open kitchen below. If you want a front-row seat to this performance, nab a stool on the long cool bar or a table for two at the side. I was happily in what I called the Dress Circle comfortably set on the banquette just inside the door, where I could see all of the comings and goings.