GALWEGIANS OF a certain age will remember. A trip to the Claddagh Palace cinema was not complete without seeing him. Flat cap, long hair, and guitar in hand, singing folk songs.
He was Terry Smith, and he would be outside the door of the Claddagh Palace entertaining the lines of people waiting to see the latest hit film. It was a presence that would make him into the city’s best known busker, and something of a Galway institution.
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Prior to those days, there were sessions in The Cellar Bar, The Crane, and The Cottage, and tours to the US and Brittany, with Mickey Finn and Sean Tyrell. “Those tours were the stuff of legend. I doubt many of today’s musicians would have survived the adventures!” says Terry’s son, Simeon Smith.
Music, however, was not Terry’s only passion. He also loved painting and took a degree course in fine art at GMIT, successfully mounting two exhibitions of his work.
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Terry’s paintings and drawings are once again going on public display, with a retrospective exhibition at the Art In Mind gallery in the Liosban Estate.
Time Zones - An exhibition of painting and drawings by Terry Smith, opens on Thursday August 26, with an official launch at 6pm, and runs until Saturday September 11.
“This exhibition draws on works from both those GMIT exhibitions,” says Simeon, “as well as a significant number of never before seen pieces. I hope you enjoy them, and that they give you a sense of Terry as an artist and a man."
The Art in Mind Gallery is located at Kilkerrin Park 3, Liosban Estate. See https://www.artinmind.ie.
