Colin Davidson
As a painter, I am always looking for opportunities to use paint in new ways. To exploit the myriad different possibilities which oil paint, in particular, has to offer. Here is a recent self-portrait. I suppose it’s a big, 3-dimensional selfie. But it is, first and foremost, a framed, wall-hung painting. Using the medium of acrylic and oil paint itself to sculpt with.
Colin Davidson is a contemporary artist, living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since graduating in 1991 from the University of Ulster with a first-class honours degree, he has structured his practice in themes, and since 2010 his focus has been on painting grand scale portraits, which have won widespread recognition and many international awards. As well as numerous commissions, Davidson’s portrait sitters have included Brad Pitt, Ed Sheeran, Liam Neeson, Brian Friel, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Christy Moore, Dame Mary Peters, Gary Lightbody, Marketa Irglova, Glen Hansard, Mark Knopfler and Seamus Heaney. His work is held in many public and corporate collections worldwide, including Queen’s University Belfast, the Ulster Museum (Belfast), Standard Life (London), the National Gallery of Ireland (Dublin), the Standard Chartered Bank of Asia, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (Washington DC) and the National Portrait Gallery, (London).
Davidson’s exhibition of portrait paintings, entitled ‘Silent Testimony’, reveals the stories of eighteen people who are connected by their individual experiences of loss through the Troubles - a turbulent 30-year period in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s onwards. This critically acclaimed body of work was on show at the Ulster Museum Belfast during 2015, before embarking on a tour which included the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, Dublin Castle and the United Nations NYC.
In December 2015 he was commissioned by TIME Magazine to paint the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for the cover of its ‘Person of the Year’ issue. In 2016 Colin Davidson was invited to paint an official portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, which was unveiled later that year by The Queen in London. In 2019 his official portrait of President Bill Clinton was unveiled by the Past President in New York and in 2020 his portrait of Irish President Michael D Higgins was unveiled in Dublin. A posthumous portrait of John Hume was commissioned by the House of Commons and was unveiled in Westminster in 2022. In 2023, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Davidson was commssioned to make a bronze bust of Senator George Mitchell for Queen’s University Belfast.
In 2018, Colin was commissioned by Tourism NI to work on the design and branding for the ‘Embrace a Giant Spirit’ campaign.
Colin was installed as the 6th Chancellor of Ulster University in a ceremony at St Anne’s Cathedral Belfast in 2022.