Awareness 10: Conor Harrington

The Story of Us and Them, 2018

Conor Harrington started off by tagging and doing graffiti when he was younger. He was born in Ireland but now works in London, England. After attending the Limerick School of Art and Design, he graduated with a Bachelor’s in the Fine Arts. His past exhibitions include Weekend Warriors in 2008, Whole Lotta trouble for a Little Win in 2013, and Eat and Delete in New York in 2014. He has also participated in several group exhibitions including the Art Truancy exhibit celebrating 20 years of Juxtapoz magazine in New York in 2014. His works can be found on his website, www.conorharrington.com.
Harrington’s use of color and message is something I want to work to be as I continue this year in Art 4. Personally, I would like to improve my color matching and blending skills, and the way he shows off each color individually without making them run together too much is a good example to start with. Most all of Harrington’s works are large scale, another preference of mine, and the fact that he is able to capture his subject with even more detail is what makes me like this piece the most.
Harrington also paints murals and invites the public to help him spread and interpret his message. He relates his work to historical American conflicts, also a concept I find very interesting given my cultural background. His work is not all extremely lifelike, and it seems to add to his style. The overlapping of images, of colors and of brushstrokes reminds me of our abstract period in Art 3, and caught my eye as I found this piece featured in High Fructose magazine. Harrington captures movement, and the scale and subject of his works allow the audience to have an emotional response. His work in this style is also very recent, as it is currently on display. When I make a two dimensional piece— most likely a painting— this year, I will look to Harrington’s work for inspiration.