Its publication accompanied a major exhibition of his work at IMMA, Dublin (later touring to the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork and the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris). Barrie Cooke is one of Ireland's foremost painters to have emerged since the mid-20th century.

His richly expressionist, semi-abstract paintings and installations anticipate those of Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst. Cooke's work is strongly influenced by time spent in Malaysia, Borneo and New Zealand, and brings an ecological sensibility to bear on his natural surroundings- to water, woodlands, mountains and sky. He has spent a lifetime exploring the nexus between nature, spirituality and eroticism, seeking inspiration in the repulsive and the sublime.

Spanning the career of this major contemporary artist, Barrie Cooke documents and celebrates his oeuvre, and is complemented by essays from Seamus Heaney, Brian Dillon and Karen Sweeney, and includes an extensive interview with the artist Dorothy Cross.