RICHARD DAVIDSON

Formerly a partner at city lawyers Baker Mackenzie, Richard Davidson graduated from Wimbledon Art School in 1999. Not surprisingly his work features, amongst other things, “City Objects” painted in a contemporary Pop Art style. These include formal shirts, ties, black shoes, brief-cases and of course suits. These were his uniform for many years and now are painted with a sense of affection and reflective nostalgia. Could they also represent a sense of lost identity? The whole field of ‘white collar’ work, and its accessories, goes largely unnoticed by contemporary art. Richard’s work painted with a sense of precision acquired in his former life, addresses the extraordinary ordinariness of this neglected area.

Having admired the work of the great realist painters Caravaggio, Velazquez, Rembrandt and Degas, Richard Davidson’s work is influenced by contemporary artists such as Wayne Thiebaud and Lisa Milroy. His subjects are familiar, recognisable objects on non-associative backgrounds.

This forces the viewer to see beyond the subject and place their own meanings and associations with them. The plain backgrounds acting in the same way actors are filmed in front of a blue background to be placed in any number of possible settings by a director.

Richard Davidson has exhibited widely in the UK including the Mid City Place, Holborn (Solo show of recent paintings 2006); Eyestorm/Britart (Solo show 2005); RA Summer Exhibtion (2003) and the Groucho Club. Richard Davidson's work is in many corporate and private collections in the UK, USA, Norway and Italy.