David Wightman (painter) explained

David Wightman
Birth Date:31 May 1980
Birth Place:Stockport, Greater Manchester, England
Nationality:British
Field:Contemporary art, landscape painting
Training:Royal College of Art, London

David Wightman (born in Stockport, Greater Manchester 1980) is an English painter known for his abstract and landscape acrylic paintings using collaged wallpaper.[1] The art critic Tabish Khan has said that Wightman has "invented a unique way of creating paintings using collaged wallpaper".[2] He graduated with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2003.[3] He lives and works in London.[4]

In 2003, after being nominated for the Lexmark European Art Prize,[5] (and while still studying at the Royal College of Art), Meredith Etherington-Smith, former editor of Art Review, said of his short-listed piece: "David Wightman frames his picture perfect Swiss postcard in the cool collateral of a Ben Nicholson modernist painting".[6]

In 2009, he showed a large site-specific painting: Behemoth at Cornerhouse, Manchester (2009)[7] and went on to exhibit with Sumarria Lunn Gallery at The Hempel, London (2010).[8] In 2010-11 he was one of two artists (the other being Hannah Maybank) selected for the Berwick Gymnasium Arts Fellowships - a six-month residency supported by English Heritage and Arts Council England. The residency took place in a Nicholas Hawksmoor designed former military gymnasium in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.[9] In 2013, he was commissioned by HOUSE Festival in Brighton (selected by artist Mariele Neudecker)[10] to make a site-specific painting for a disused pavilion on Brighton's seafront. The piece (Hero) is the largest painting by the artist to date.[11]

Cherie Federico, editor of Aesthetica magazine has said: "You must spend time with Wightman’s paintings; on the surface they are beautiful and intricate, but like the layers they are made from, there is so much depth to his works".[12] In 2012 he had his first major solo show entitled Paramour at Halcyon Gallery, London.[13] His work is held in several public collections including the Royal College of Art and General Energy UK.[14] Wightman collaborated with the Swiss fashion house Akris as part of their Fall / Winter 2014/15 collection.[15]

Wightman's first international solo show opened in October 2018 at Duran|Mashaal Gallery in Montréal, Canada. Wightman's last UK solo show My Atalanta opened in October 2021 at Long & Ryle, London. The gallery director Sarah Long has said of his work: "His landscape paintings are beautiful distractions. The intricate collaged wallpaper and unusual colour choices are compelling: they function as abstract compositions as well as imaginary vistas. His paintings offer a glimpse of another world - seemingly real yet entirely fictional".[16]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Khan. Tabish. Art Review: David Wightman – Paramour at Halcyon Gallery. Londonist. 6 January 2013.
  2. Web site: Khan . Tabish . Interview with painter David Wightman . FAD Magazine . 6 January 2024.
  3. Web site: Fine Art Visiting Speakers Programme. Newcastle University. 6 January 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120330161707/http://research.ncl.ac.uk/fineartvisitingspeakers/infoWightman.html. 30 March 2012.
  4. Web site: David Wightman · About. www.davidwightman.net. 2016-10-24.
  5. Ezard. John. Painters target the Turner. The Guardian. 21 April 2003. 26 December 2013.
  6. News: David's brush with Euro success. Stockport Times West. 22 May 2003.
  7. Web site: Behemoth and Other New Paintings. Cornerhouse. 6 January 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120912102337/http://www.cornerhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/old_site/media/General%20things/Monthly%20Listings/Cornerhouse_Listings_November_Web.pdf. 12 September 2012.
  8. Web site: Howard . Donna Marie . Secret Name . The Workshop of Sir Reginald Bray . 6 January 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140221150537/http://sirreginaldbray.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/secret-name-david-wightman-at-the-hempel/ . 21 February 2014 .
  9. Web site: King. Judith. In conversation with David Wightman. Arts & Heritage. 6 January 2013.
  10. Web site: HOUSE 2013 selected artists and commissions announced. 6 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140118055951/http://www.housefestival.org/house-news-2013?item=31. 18 January 2014. dead.
  11. Web site: David Wightman · Hero. 6 May 2013.
  12. Book: Paramour. Halcyon Gallery. 2012. London. 11 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121029134205/http://www.halcyongallery.com/emags/Paramour-DWightman/pageflip.html. 29 October 2012. dead.
  13. Book: Paramour. Halcyon Gallery. 2012. London. 11 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121029134205/http://www.halcyongallery.com/emags/Paramour-DWightman/pageflip.html. 29 October 2012. dead.
  14. Web site: David Wightman - Artists. Halcyon Gallery. 26 December 2013.
  15. Web site: David Wightman . D6: Culture in Transit . 6 January 2024.
  16. Book: EMPIRE - David Wightman. Long & Ryle. 2016.