Colin Davidson RUA (b.1968)

The landscape artist, genre and portrait painter Colin Davidson was born in Belfast in 1968. In 1991, he graduated with first class honours in Art and Design from the University of Ulster. Almost immediately, he began exhibiting his artwork at the Tom Caldwell Gallery in Belfast, although he didn't begin painting full-time until 2000. Solo exhibitions at the same art gallery followed in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2004. In Dublin, Davidson exhibits regularly at the Solomon Gallery, while in New York he has shown at Gallery Revel. To date, he has won several awards including: Communication Arts Award, California (1994), Creative Review Award (1994), the RUA Silver Medal (1997), the RUA Conor Prize (2001), and another RUA Silver Medal (2002).

Bike, Donegall Square South Belfast

Davidson's work is said to draw influence from a number of artists, including Soutine, de Kooning, Auerbach, Jack B Yeats and Matisse, while his oil painting style is characterised by thick expressive brushstrokes and a bold brightly coloured palette with heavy impasto on certain areas.

Colin Davidson's paintings are represented in a number of public, private and corporate collections including: Allied Irish Bank, Anglo Irish Bank, Boyle Civic Collection, Cobra Golf USA, Gabriel Byrne, First Trust Bank, National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, Parliament Buildings Stormont, Senator George Mitchell, Standard Life UK and Ulster Bank.

Living Room, Arthur Street, Belfast. 2006

In 1999, Davidson was commissioned to paint a portrait of the artist Basil Blackshaw RUA. He was also elected a member of the Royal Ulster Academy (RUA). Recent one-man exhibitions include: "New Works" at the Solomon Gallery, Dublin.

More Information About Visual Arts in Ireland

• For details of other Ulster painters and sculptors, see: Irish Artists: Paintings and Biographies.
• For more about art in Ireland, see: Irish Art Guide.

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