Colin Davidson - Art Collection

A Style That Evokes Lucian Freud

Colin Davidson is a contemporary artist living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. He began his artistic career as an urban landscape painter, but after the production of his critically acclaimed portrait of musician Duke Special, the focus quickly shifted to large-scale portraits. Some sitters are recognizable public figures and some are unknown. He paints his subjects from life in the traditional sense with a style that evokes Lucian Freud’s paintings. In terms of process these portrait paintings can be seen as a direct follow on from his urban landscape works because of their sheer scale and use of impasto, they have the ability to conjure up qualities of a landscape.

View “Seated Nude” within the Collection

Seated Nude by Colin Davidson

Captures the Spirit of the Sitters

“Davdison manages to catch the spirit of the sitters without destroying the very secret of their inner life by the large scale of his paintings. The lively portraits reveal the one moment fixed on the canvas as a continuing emotional experience, which the viewer is invited to share.” – Andrea Grunert :To catch the spirit of the sitter: Colin Davidson’s portraits at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre.

“… the excuse to put pigment on ground, to explore the endless magic of paint and line. The resulting works are, for me, a record of the interaction with paint and canvas- the struggle between intent and medium becomes an intrinsic part of the image. The process of this interaction, therefore, becomes the subject.”- Colin Davidson

Colin Davidson has exhibited extensively in London, New York, Milan and across Ireland. He has been shown regularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, where he has twice won awards, and has been an Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy since 2006, having won the R.U.A. Gold Medal three times and the Silver Medal twice.

Resume

Educated Methodist College, Belfast, 1980-87
Art & Design Faculty, University of Ulster, Belfast. First Class Honours Degree, 1987-91
Elected Associate Royal Ulster Academy, 2003
Elected Academician Royal Ulster Academy, 2006
Elected President Royal Ulster Academy, 2012

Awards

University of Ulster Distinguished Graduate of the Year Award, Belfast, 2012
BP Portrait Visitors’ Choice Award, London, 2012
Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast, 2011
Royal Hibernian Academy, The Ireland – US Council and Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award, Dublin, 2010
Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast, 2010
Royal Hibernian Academy, Keating/McLoughlin Medal (ESB), Dublin, 2009
Royal Ulster Academy, Caldwell Prize for Drawing, Belfast, 2007
Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast, 2004
Royal Ulster Academy, Silver Medal, Belfast, 2002
Royal Ulster Academy, Conor Prize, Belfast, 2001
Royal Ulster Academy, Silver Medal, Belfast, 1997
Communication Arts Award, California, 1994
ICAD Craft Award, Dublin, 1994
Association of Illustrators, London, 1994
Winsor & Newton Gold Award, London, 1994
Creative Review Award, London, 1994

Solo Exhibitions

‘Between The Words’, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast, 2013
‘Transmission’, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, 2012
Lyric Theatre Belfast (ongoing), 2011
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 2009
Window Shopping’, Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2007
‘Inside/Out’, Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 2006
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2005
Gallery Revel, New York, 2004
‘No Continuing City’, Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 2004
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2003
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 2002
Gallery Revel, New York, 2001
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 2001
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 2000
Solomon Gallery, Dublin, 1999
Straid Gallery, Co Antrim, 1998
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 1997
BBC Belfast, 1993

Selected Group Exhibitions (Since 2005)

Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2012
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2012
BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London, 2012
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (invited), London, 2012
Radharc, The American Irish Historical Society, New York, 2012
Hibernation, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, 2012
Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2011
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2011
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2011
BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London, 2011
Black and White, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, 2011
Art London, with Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, 2011
Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2010
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2010
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2010
Michael Quane Selects, Lavit Gallery, Cork, 2010
Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2009
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2009
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2009
Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2008
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2008
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2008
Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, 2006
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2006
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2006
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Belfast, 2005
Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle, 2005

Collections

Allied Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Bar Library Belfast
BTW Shiells Belfast
British Broadcasting Corporation
Boyle Civic Collection
Cobra Golf USA
Department of the Environment NI
Department of Finance and Personnel NI
Electricity Supply Board Ireland
First Trust Bank
Garda Headquarters Dublin
Hastings Hotels
Hilton Hotels
Law Society of Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland
National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland
Northern Ireland Electricity
Office of Public Works Ireland
Parliament Buildings Stormont
Queen’s University Belfast
Royal Victoria Hospital
Standard Chartered Bank of Asia
Standard Life UK
Ulster Bank Group
Ulster Museum Belfast
Wexford County Council

Contact Information

Website: www.colindavidson.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/colindavidsonart

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