Cork graffiti artist ‘has world at his feet’

From the street to the world stage — an Irish graffiti artist has “the world at his feet” after one of his dynamic paintings sold at auction for more than €100,000.

However, Cork-born Conor Harrington, 34, said he would love more than anything else to be invited home to paint “a big wall” as part of a outdoor public art project.

Conor and his wife Chloe celebrated the birth of their first child, Seamus, seven weeks ago, but there is little time to rest as Conor is preparing for a major exhibition of his work in a Moscow museum next year.

He has also been invited to work on major outdoor murals in Denmark, Vienna, New York, and Málaga over the coming months.

“I would love to come home to paint a big wall. It just hasn’t happened yet, but it is something I want to do,” he said.

Conor was speaking days after his dynamic street-art inspired Dance With The Devil piece sold for £77,500 (€103,644) — almost double its guide price — through the prestigious London auction house Bonhams on Wednesday.

“I’ve been selling a lot of work for years but nobody ever picks up on it,” Conor said last night from his studio in East London.

“So the thing about an auction is that it’s very public, and everyone hears about it. My prices have been climbing steadily year on year and the result on Wednesday was only fractionally higher than what I’d get on the private market. But it’s still a great result.”

The buyer’s identity has not been revealed and Conor said he plans to plough the money back in to his studio.

Artist Conor Harrington recently

became a father.

Bonhams, on Bond St, a privately owned auction house, is one of the world’s oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. Its experts said Conor “has the world at his feet”.

“His style blends exquisite draughtsmanship with a roughness that is provocative and vital,” they said.

“The majesty of his canvas works evoke the intensity of Caravaggio, the craft of Martin Scorsese and the facility with paint of Gerhard Richter.”

Conor, who grew up in Bishopstown on the south side of Cork City, began painting graffiti on the city’s side streets in the 1990s.

After finishing second level education in Bishopstown Community School, he studied art in Limerick and returned to Cork for two years where he set up studio on Princes St, staging his first solo exhibition in Tig Filí in 2004.

He then made the move to East London about a decade ago where he set up his studio.

Conor has exhibited widely in London, New York, and Los Angeles, and has been working with a gallery in London for the last eight years, which has built up a solid client base for his work.

Such is the demand for his work that the gallery often has to set up a waiting list when his work is nearing completion. His work has been bought by celebrities including Alicia Keys, Jared Leto, and Damien Hirst.

Conor has also completed several high-profile public art projects on landmark buildings around the world.

However, the breakthrough into the auction world came when Bonhams approached him some time ago to consider putting his work up for auction.

He selected his cinematic-style Dance With The Devil, painted in oil and spray paint on linen in 2013, from his own collection for auction.

“It was a new process for me, but obviously I’m delighted,” he said.