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

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

Websitewww.colindavidson.com

Facebookwww.facebook.com/colindavidsonart

Youtube Links:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0vuoJa6m3s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=huECjFlN3ys