Ken Coleman’s exhibition blends art, archetypes, and imagination, featuring collaborations with Treaty Brewery and Lumen Street Theatre.
The exhibition Magical Creatures by Ken Coleman at the City Treaty Brewery is open to visitors until November 2.
The project goes beyond the artwork displayed in the brewery, featuring two label designs for Treaty Brewery beer cans and a collaborative installation with Lumen Street Theatre. We spoke with the artist about the inspirations behind his work.
The Art of Archetypes: Finding Familiar Faces in Fantasy
“I’ve been doing portraiture in Limerick for maybe 25 years, and I love observing the characters,” Coleman shares, explaining his inspiration. He describes the importance of archetypes in his character studies: “When I understood what archetypes were, I just started seeing them everywhere, like how your mum might embody the mother goddess figure.” He notes that archetypes, such as the “Witch in the Woods,” appear across cultures.
His character studies, such as his “Devil” series, explore unique perspectives. “The Devils are based on old men who hang outside pubs near betting shops. I made them look tired and toothless,” he says. His “devil” paintings tell different stories, like the one who is not a villain but rather a character who challenged authority and ended up “in the basement,” demoted to the janitor, serving as the “basement father figure” to both the unemployed and newcomers. “Instead of being up in corporate, he’s now down in the basement,” Coleman adds.
Crafting Characters: Ken Coleman’s Multi-Media Approach
Coleman works across various media. For portraits, he begins with the face, building detail around it. His more conceptual work involves 3D modelling, where he can experiment with lighting and materials before refining the image in Photoshop. His influences include artists like Tom Jung, known for iconic hand-drawn posters for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, connecting Coleman’s work to 1980s pop culture.
Halloween – One of the Best Times to Celebrate Creativity
As a child, Coleman was captivated by Halloween’s pageantry, especially in the U.S., and was fascinated to learn that the holiday has roots in Ireland. “Halloween is one of the best times to celebrate creativity,” he says. Collaborating with Lumen Street Theatre and designing beer can labels for Treaty Brewery felt especially meaningful. “I love to think people might collect, steal, or even frame them,” he laughs.
Reflecting on visitors seeing his art in the exhibition, Coleman says, “You’re not controlling the narrative. The audience sees what they want, and it resonates in different ways.” A lesson he took to heart from a friend: “Not everything has to be a masterpiece; it can be precious to someone else once it’s finished.”
If you have time around Halloween, be sure to visit Magical Creatures and discover the stories that emerge in these multi-faceted images.
Ken Coleman
Irish digital and mixed-media artist whose work has been published worldwide. His clients include The Cranberries, Morbid Angel, and The Blizzards. Coleman also lectures in Game Art & Design, Animation & Visual FX at Limerick School of Art & Design.
picture by Darren Ryan