The Catalan at Kilmainham

Enrique Juncosa, the new director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, is a Catalan with an impressive pedigree. Something of a renaissance man, his infusion of some European influence into the Irish art scene will be particularly welcome

Enrique Juncosa, at IMMA for the announcement of his appointment as director, a post he takes up next February, comes across as relaxed and down-to-earth. Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1961, he is a Catalan and a relation of the great Catalan artist Joan Miro.

Another relative was one of the school of Catalan Impressionist painters. His appointment has been greeted warmly in the art world here, with the infusion of some European influence being seen as particularly welcome.

What persuaded him to move from the prestigious - and huge - Reina Sofia National Museum of Modern Art, where he is currently deputy director, to a relatively small museum here in Ireland? He is quite frank about one of the main reasons.

"It was a combination of several things. But firstly there was the chance to be the director of a museum. I've been deputy director in two museums, at Valencia and at the Reina Sofia.In both I was responsible for the contemporary art, though they are both museums of modern and contemporary art. Here in Dublin, I have a chance to be a director, and to be in charge of both modern and contemporary aspects of the museum."

As it happened, he was reasonably familiar with Dublin.

"I actually spent a summer here, it might have been 1995, or some time around then. Because I have friends in Ireland I come to visit them. While I was here I went to see exhibitions at IMMA. I liked the museum very much. I think it is a remarkable building, and that greatly appeals to me."

He readily admits to being less familiar with contemporary Irish art in a general sense. "In Spain, the most well known Irish artist is probably James Coleman. He had a show at the Tapies Foundation in Barcelona. But there are other artists who you could say are not strictly Irish, but are regarded as Irish or see themselves as being Irish. I did a show with Michael Craig-Martin, for example. I know he is regarded as English, and his parentage is American-English, I think, but he was born in Ireland.

"The first piece I ever wrote as a critic was about Sean Scully. He was born in Dublin and regards himself as an Irish artist, he describes himself as an Irish artist. He has a studio in Barcelona."

While working as Barcelona art critic for El Pais, the largest circulation daily newspaper in Spain, between 1992 and 1998, Juncosa curated several exhibitions, including shows by the popular Catalan painter Miquel Barcelo, for the Whitechapel Gallery in London, and by the sculptor Barry Flanagan.

The latter is best known for his playful sculptures of hares, symbols of anarchy and freedom, and a monumental example stands outside the main entrance to the building at IMMA.

Flanagan has also made illustrations for Juncosa's forthcoming book of poetry Apartamento Minimal, his sixth since 1986. In the past, his literary involvement also included translations.

"I once translated a Julian Barnes novel, his first one." In his early 20s, he studied electronic music in the Phonos Studios in Barcelona. "When I was very young, 16 or so, I used to play keyboards - you know, with just two fingers. And I went on to play keyboards with a group. Never all that seriously, then I gave it up; but I'm still very interested in music, I mean in the sense that my interest isn't confined purely to visual art. You know, literature, music and architecture are important too."

He is currently working on two large exhibitions, one with artist Francis Alys that opens next month in Rome, and the other featuring Danish sculptor Olafur Eliasson, at the Reina Sofia, which opens early next year. "I want to finish dealing with both of those before starting at IMMA."

HE emphasises the importance of continuing with IMMA's present policies, including its widely praised education and community programme. Has he started thinking in terms of programming for IMMA?

"I do have some ideas. Obviously the programme for 2003 is complete, but I have a few ideas that we're going to talk about right away while I'm here. And then we begin planning further ahead. One of the things I would aim to do is to make the museum even more well known abroad."

As deputy director at the highly regarded Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM), he oversaw shows by American painters Terry Winters and Willem de Kooning, and by Michael Craig-Martin, the godfather of Brit art. At the Reina Sofia, his projects included a show of collaborative works by the trio of Warhol-Basquiat-Clemente, and exhibitions of the Belgian Panamarenko and the Indian Bhupen Khakhar. All in all, a fairly catholic mix.

"I know that some curators have a reputation for specialising in a particular field - for particularly liking photography, for example. But I like change, and I like to do things that are a bit different. I would say that I am not very dogmatic regarding art. It's bad to become too dogmatic about things and anyway, it's much more fun to change. We have to remember that museums are for everyone, not just for one particular section of the audience."