Maker’s Spotlight – Colin Davidson

We love Colin Davidson’s large-scale portraits! The Irish artist who resides in Belfast is a contemporary artist that has focused on grand scale portraits for over a decade. The portraits he paints of famous Irishmen and others earned the artist recognition on both a local and international stage.

Davidson started painting his hometown of Belfast in his teens; his urban theme reemerged in 2006 when he painted a magical world that he saw reflected in storefront windows both in Belfast and the country’s capital of Dublin. Back in 2004, Tom Caldwell Gallery presented “No Continuing City,” his most intense expressions of Dublin. Observing these paintings felt as though you were examining a map… the city’s architecture and infrastructure are the focal points. In addition, the cityscapes have a unique perspective in that they appear as though drawn from above in a magical light.

The “Jerusalem” paintings transpired after Davidson’s 2014 visit to the magical and poly- denominational city. The artist painted twelve portraits of people who either live or work in the city. Among the characters painted are Jews, Christians, and Muslims… the three omni- present religions existing in Jerusalem. Among the Jerusalemites was a hotel worker, a doctor, a holocaust survivor, a peace activist, a Benedictine monk, and a politician. The twelve individuals provide a cross section of the city’s population that lives together in a place often times filled with prejudice and conflict; and separated by religion.

Clearly however, Davidson is most known for his large-scale portraits. His lush, big strokes maintain a fabulous effect of accuracy in both color and proportion. Davidson said (courtesy of ArtNet), “Most of my work features large amounts of paint applied with a palette knife, at some point- to build up texture- but the eyes are painted with a paintbrush and therefore are more realistic.” He continued, “I choose to focus on the person when they are lost in thought and with that, there is often a vulnerability that comes through.”

Following the 2015 commission by Time Magazine to make an oil painting of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkell, his prominence grew. A beautiful portrait, Merkell is perfectly portrayed. About this specific painting that brought Davidson so much international recognition, he said (courtesy of Time Magazine), “Although likeness is vital in my practice, it is my hope that a sense of the German Chancellor’s dignity, compassion and humanity is woven into the paint.”

It certainly helps that Davidson is more worried about the person’s being than the person’s celebrity. Surely this is why the artist is able to capture the personalities so precisely!