Crossing The Lines

Crossing Lines from Andrew Telling on Vimeo.

Shortly before I met Conor Harrington—he was getting up on a wall in Venice Beach before the Euro Trash group show last summer at Lazarides’ Beverly Hills pop-up space—the Irish-born painter  went out to broker some peace in the Middle East. In his case, he was armed with an oil brush and a can of spray paint. “I was originally supposed to go to Beirut to paint a wall there but my contact out there bailed on me three weeks beforehand so I was left with time-off booked, a cameraman, and nowhere to go,” says Harrington, who quickly rerouted himself to Tel Aviv, Bethlehem, and Palestine. “I pulled off the Israel/West Bank trip in a matter of days — amazing what you can do with a few contacts.” Now, he’s offering a glimpse at how amazing the impromptu trip was (along with a dope soundtrack) in the short film Crossing The Lines.“I’m interested in the region, areas of conflict, and thought it would be really interesting to go and paint there,” he says. Despite the current chaos in the region, Harrington definitely misses one thing: the warm weather.  ”I’m in a freezing studio in london trying to finish off a couple of commissions before jumping into work for my solo at Laz later this year.” That’s this fall, so keep your calendars open.

—Michael Slenske