There’s something visually arresting about watching a figure in full ceremonial ermine dissolve into dripping paint whilst their cloak remains perfectly intact. This tension defines Pallium, Conor Harrington‘s first exhibition with Ben Brown Fine Arts in London, running until 6 February 2026. The exhibition title references both the Latin for “cloak” and the brain region associated with memory—a deliberate connection between material culture and institutional power.
Harrington, who began tagging the urban public spaces of Cork before mastering both spray cans and oil brushes, interrogates the legacies of colonialism, empire, and the archaic systems of power that continue to shadow contemporary life. His central proposition is direct: ceremonial garments outlast the bodies that wore them, becoming empty symbols maintained through repeated performance.
From Street Art to Classical Critique
Harrington earned his BFA from Limerick School of Art and Design before moving to London two decades ago. Known for exploring themes of power, masculinity, and imperial legacy through figurative painting, he drew inspiration for this series from historical reenactments he observed in Bristol—where participants don period costume to recreate scenes from the past. He recognised in these performances a potent metaphor for how outdated systems of power maintain themselves today.
His technique involves photographing models dressed in eighteenth-century military uniforms and aristocratic costumes borrowed from period drama warehouses, then applying layers of oil and spray paint to linen. The process is labour-intensive, requiring substantial studio time and naturally limiting output. The result is calculated visual tension: fabric rendered with photographic precision, faces dissolving into abstract drips.
His choice of eighteenth-century costume isn’t arbitrary. This period witnessed the 1798 Irish Rebellion, when Protestant and Catholic forces briefly united against the Crown. Drawing on this era as someone viewing British ceremonial tradition from both inside and outside its tradition, Harrington examines how such systems adapt and persist through upheaval.
Bunting, Ermine, and Borrowed Authority
The Pallium series builds its critique through two contrasting motifs. Bunting—once a naval signal system, now generic festivity decoration—functions as a hollow signifier of unity. Where national flags proclaim allegiance, bunting gestures only towards celebration stripped of specific meaning. Its physical lightness becomes an emblem of emptiness.
Ermine provides the counterpoint. These fur-trimmed cloaks carry centuries of symbolic weight—historically reserved for European monarchs, still worn at coronations. In Welcome to the Cabaret (2025), Harrington renders the ermine with meticulous realism whilst the wearer’s face dissolves completely. The composition recalls Francis Bacon’s papal portraits—figures suspended between presence and disappearance.
Across the series, dramatic paint drips transform subjects mid-canvas, creating visual instability. Works like Fangs and Feelings (2025) and Whose World is it Anyway? (2025) exemplify this approach—figures locked in confrontation, their gestures taut with energy, yet rendered in states of dissolution. The compositions draw on the formal traditions of eighteenth-century history painting whilst subverting them through contemporary technique and critical intent.
Where weaponry might be expected, strands of pastel bunting twist around bodies instead. The participants become ensnared not by enemies but by the very symbols they attempt to uphold—a visual metaphor for Harrington’s central argument. The pageantry of power, he suggests, is ultimately self-defeating performance.
Market Position and Collecting
Harrington achieved his auction record in 2020, with sustained secondary market activity over the past decade. His work bridges street art and classical painting traditions, attracting collectors who value both technical craft and political engagement. He exhibits in galleries from London to New York whilst creating monumental street murals from Bethlehem to São Paulo. Works have appeared at auction regularly since 2015.
The combination of street art provenance and Old Master technique creates natural scarcity—few artists command both disciplines with equal conviction. Institutional validation through major gallery representation and museum exhibitions supports long-term value stability.
Collectors should approach acquisitions with medium to long-term horizons. Authentication remains crucial given his output across street murals, studio canvases, and limited edition prints. Provenance documentation is particularly important for works from the early 2000s, when much of his practice existed as undocumented street interventions. Gallery-represented pieces with clear exhibition history offer the most secure opportunities.
Interrogating Inherited Power
Pallium merges the technical precision of classical painting with a distinctly contemporary critique. The paintings don’t simply depict historical costume—they interrogate it, asking uncomfortable questions about how ceremonial culture functions and whom it serves.
By rendering subjects in states of transformation, Harrington strips ceremony down to performance, revealing participants as replaceable components in systems that persist regardless of who inhabits them. His proposition is direct: institutional authority maintains itself through objects and ritual whilst individuals remain temporary. The costume outlasts the person wearing it; the system outlasts those who serve it.
The technical execution seduces; the critical intelligence unsettles. For collectors seeking contemporary figurative painting with both technical mastery and conceptual depth, Harrington’s work delivers on both fronts.
Exhibition Details:
Conor Harrington: Pallium
Ben Brown Fine Arts
12 Brook’s Mews, London W1K 4DG
7 November 2025 – 6 February 2026
