Colin Davidson is a remarkable Irish artist. He also happens to be one of my closest friends. Our collaboration on Twelve Paintings has turned out to be one of the most fulfilling projects of my professional life.
Davidson may be best known as a painter of portraits – but he doesn’t regard himself as a portrait painter per se. Indeed, despite the fact that many of those who’ve sat for him are well-known public figures, he rails against any suggestion that he’s a “celebrity” painter. Even though the late Queen Elizabeth, Seamus Heaney and Edna O’Brien, as well as Ed Sheeran and Brad Pitt, feature prominently in his work, he’s quick to emphasise what he sees as the democracy of painting portraits.
Davidson takes the standard portrait painter’s challenge of producing a likeness on canvas one step further. He manages to capture the essence of the person sitting in front of him.
In his typically large-scale painting of the late John Hume we can detect a man no longer fully aware of his contribution to the peace process. “Who’s Senator George Mitchell?” he asks as Davidson sketches and photographs him. We glimpse moments of unmistakable sadness and inner reflection etched into the faces of President Bill Clinton and Liam Neeson. Davidson’s home city of Belfast is treated as if it too is sitting for a portrait – lovingly recorded, elegiac almost.
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Mark Carruthers is a broadcaster and journalist based in Belfast. He chaired the Board of the Lyric Theatre for eight years. Colin Davidson: Twelve Paintings – conversations with Mark Carruthers is published by Merrion Press at €35/£30.
