This month the streets of Dulwich will be transformed as renowned street artists from around the world create an outdoor gallery of public murals based upon Baroque style, Old Master paintings from Dulwich Picture Gallery's permanent collection. The Street Art Festival takes place between the 10th and 19th May as part of the annual Dulwich Festival and will include tours of the murals as well as debates led by academics and experts from the worlds of both Street and Classical Art alike. Conor Harrington kicked off the festival with his piece going up at the end of last week; other artists to catch over the coming days include the following: ROA, Phlegm, Remi Rough, Thierry Noir and Dscreet. If you've never found a good enough reason to visit South East London before, now is the perfect opportunity to get on that new Overground line and brave the other side of the river.
Biography
Conor Harrington hails from Cork in Ireland. His work is an incredibly successful collusion between fine art and street techniques.
According to Conor himself, central to his oil canvasses is "the male figure, referring to the masculinity of urban culture". The men in Conor's paintings allude to the not necessarily heroic, but stoic and pensive male of the modernist painters; however the pieces are plastered with post-modern graffito flourishes in a pertinent clash of styles – "I'm interested in the dynamics between opposing elements" says the artist. Whilst both the male figures and abstract elements of the work are unarguably contemporary, the emotions they transmit are timeless, if currently under-rated: dignity, courage and a quiet sense of duty to oneself and those around us. At a time when men are accused of being somehow redundant within society Conor's work is an intelligent and modest reminder of their positive emotional contribution. It also shows that graff doesn't have to shock – or be soppy – to have substance.
News
With the sun finally attempting to show its face on our allegedly sceptred isle, we feel less of a tease posting these awesome photos of Lucy McLauchlan and Conor Harrington painting in Mallorca for a Beach Paint Jam over the Easter bank holiday weekend. Organised by Widewalls, the jam saw Lucy and Conor joining a host of street art stars in transforming an abandoned 1950s hotel complex on the the Plaza de Espania in Portals Nous.
Hopefully the British spring is finally upon us, and will bring more street projects at home as well as abroad over the coming months.
After a busy January both Lazarides Rathbone and The Outsiders London are open for business, with two incredible solo exhibitions from Dan Witz and Conor Harrington setting the mark for the 2013 schedules. If you didn't make it down to either opening night, the exhibitions will run for the rest of February from 11am–7pm,Tuesday–Saturday.
After an exhausting month of refurbishment at The Outsiders London, the doors were finally opened last night to unveil Conor Harrington's first exhibition of 2013, A Whole Lot of Trouble for a Little Bit of Win. The studies and works on paper were a fantastic sign of the quality of work to be expected from The Outsiders in 2013, with a jam-packed schedule filled with both regular Lazarides favourites and some new faces thrown into the mix. If you're in Soho over the weekend be sure to swing by and check out the new space.
Lazarides Rathbone will be closing to the public at 5.30pm today due to a private event this evening. However, if you fancy dropping by The Outsiders, Conor Harrington will be opening his brand new exhibition, A Whole Lot of Trouble for a Little Bit of Win, from 6–9pm. Both London galleries will be open as usual tomorrow.
