Biography
Colin Davidson, RUA, is a contemporary artist, living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Davidson was born in Belfast in 1968 and graduated with first class honours in Art and Design from the University of Ulster in 1991. For many years, his work has been concerned with the urban, focussing on the multi-layered imagery as seen in city-centre windows. Most recently, Colin Davidson started work on a series of large-scale portrait heads. The painting Just Sharp Reminding (Portrait of Duke Special) was awarded the Ireland – US Council and Irish Arts Review Award at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin in June 2010, and the painting Thread the Light (Portrait of Glen Hansard) was awarded the Perpetual Gold Medal at the Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast in October 2010. The painting Pure To Another (Portrait of Brian Kennedy) was awarded the Perpetual Gold Medal at the Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast in October 2011. Davidson’s work is represented in many private and public collections including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, The National Gallery of Ireland, Queen’s University and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Silent Testimony, National Memorial Arboretum, UK
2019 Ed Sheeran – Portraits by Colin Davidson, Ipswich
2018 Silent Testimony, United Nations Headquarters, New York
2018 Silent Testimony, Nerve Visual, Derry
2017 Silent Testimony, Dublin Castle, Dublin
2017 Jerusalem, Fitzroy Square, London
2017 Jerusalem, 92nd Street Y, New York
2016 Reflected Gleams, Irish Arts Center, New York
2016 Silent Testimony, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
2015 Silent Testimony, Ulster Museum, Belfast
2014 Jerusalem, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2013 Between The Words, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast
2012 Transmission, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2011 Lyric Theatre Belfast (ongoing)
2009 Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast
2007 Window Shopping, Solomon Gallery, Dublin
2006 Inside/Out, Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast
2005 Solomon Gallery, Dublin
2004 Gallery Revel, New York
1993 BBC Belfast
Selected Group Exhibitions
2006,2008-2012 Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition, Dublin
2011-2012 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
2012 Invited Artist, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
2012 Radharc, The American Irish Historical Society, New York
2012 Hibernation, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2008 Christie’s, London
2006 Sotheby’s, London
2003 The Ireland Funds Special Olympics World Summer Games Auction, National Concert Hall, Dublin
Awards
2019 Fergus Ahern Award, Boyle
2015 US/Ireland Alliance Honor, Los Angeles
2012 University of Ulster Distinguished Graduate of the Year Award, Belfast
2012 BP Portrait Visitors’ Choice Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
2011 Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast
2010 Royal Hibernian Academy, The Ireland – US Council and Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award, Dublin
2010 Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast
2009 Royal Hibernian Academy, Keating/McLoughlin Medal (ESB), Dublin
2007 Royal Ulster Academy, Caldwell Prize for Drawing, Belfast
2004 Royal Ulster Academy, Gold Medal, Belfast
2002 Royal Ulster Academy, Silver Medal, Belfast
2001 Royal Ulster Academy, Conor Prize, Belfast
1997 Royal Ulster Academy, Silver Medal, Belfast
1994 Communication Arts Award, California
1994 ICAD Craft Award, Dublin Association of Illustrators, London
1994 Winsor & Newton Gold Award, London
1994 Creative Review Award, London
Collections
Abbey Theatre, Dublin
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, Phoenix Park, Dublin (Interpol)
Hastings Hotels
Hilton Hotels
The Law Society of Ireland
Lyric Theatre, Belfast
National Gallery of Ireland
National Portrait Gallery, London
National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland
Northern Ireland Electricity
Office of Public Works, Ireland
Parliament Buildings Stormont
Queen’s University, Belfast
Royal Victoria Hospital
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC
Standard Chartered Bank of Asia
Standard Life UK
Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Berlin
Ulster Bank Group
Ulster Museum Belfast
Wexford County Council