Colin Davidson (artist)

Colin Davidson
Born	1968 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	Northern Irish

Colin Davidson (born 1968) is a Northern Irish visual artist, living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. An artist who works in themes, his recent large-scale head paintings have been exhibited worldwide.

Education

Davidson was born in

Davidson started to paint Belfast in his teens, and this theme came to the fore in 2004 when his exhibition No Continuing City was mounted at the Tom Caldwell Gallery.[4] The exhibition included large paintings of Belfast as seen from high view-points. The urban theme continued between 2006 and 2010 when Davidson made paintings based on the illusionary world seen in city window reflections.^[5]

Portraits

Since 2010 Davidson's work has been concerned with the human face and the resulting large scale head paintings are now recognised internationally. His portraits of

Davidson's work has been exhibited in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2011, 2012 and 2013.In 2012 he won the Visitors' Choice Award.^[9]

In December 2015 Davidson was commissioned by Time magazine to paint German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for the cover for its "Person of the Year" issue.^[10]

In 2016, Davidson was commissioned to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for Co-operation Ireland. This painting was unveiled at Crosby Hall in London by the Queen in November 2016.^[11] In the same year, he portrayed Jamie Dornan which he unveiled in his studio that year.^[12]

In 2017, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled Davidson's portrait of Ed Sheeran, a painting which has been acquired for its collection.^[13][14]

In 2019, Bill Clinton unveiled an official portrait painted by Davidson. The painting now hangs in the Clinton Foundation, Little Rock, Arkansas.^[15]

Jerusalem

In 2014, and continuing the theme of large scale portraits, Davidson turned his attention to the city of Jerusalem. He made paintings of twelve individuals who lived or worked in the city. They came from different backgrounds, cultures and traditions. Among these dozen Jerusalemites were Jews, Muslims, Christians, a politician, a monk, a doctor, a peace activist, a hotel worker and a Holocaust survivor.^[16] In 2017, the exhibition went on tour to London and New York, where it was shown at 92nd Street Y.

Silent Testimony

Davidson's 2015 exhibition of portrait paintings entitled 'Silent Testimony' tells the stories of eighteen people who are connected by their individual experiences of loss through Northern Ireland's 30 years of violence known as

• 2016 – Davidson was awarded an honorary doctorate from
  Queen's University, Belfast for distinction in art.^[19]
• 2015 – US/Ireland Alliance Honor, Los Angeles[20]
• 2012 – University of Ulster Distinguished Graduate of the Year Award, Belfast^[21]
• 2012 – BP Portrait Visitors' Choice Award, National Portrait Gallery, London^[9]

References