A Worcestershire artist, who kick-started his art career in animation over twenty years ago in Birmingham, has unveiled a new collection of works, which transforms nostalgic playground games into iconic movie scenes.
The exhibition, entitled ‘In A Backyard Far Far Away,’ by artist Craig Davison, takes inspiration from one of the biggest space trilogies, and is now on display at Castle Fine Art, ICC.
To celebrate the launch, Davison made a personal guest appearance at the gallery on Sunday 26th October, to meet fans and discuss his experience and inspiration. Davidson was also joined by the 99th Garrison, a Star Wars based costume group, predominately focused on the dark side of the force (with a few rebel associates).
Their visit helped to raise hundreds of pounds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital by encouraging guests to donate, giving them a chance to win a limited edition print from Castle Fine Art, donated by the gallery.
Vikki Savery, Deputy Director of Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to Craig Davison, Castle Fine Art and everyone who supported the ‘‘In A Backyard Far, Far Away’ project.
“It was an honour for us to be chosen to benefit from the raffle and the money raised will make a real difference to sick children and their families who are treated here at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.”
Davison’s brand new exhibition includes original oils, pencil sketches and prints. The artwork features children acting out various playground fantasies, with the paintings conveying a sense of flamboyant chaos that comes with the adventures of childhood play, layered onto faded scenes from a recognisable film series.
Davison started his career as a cartoonist in the late 80’s and worked on various comic strips including The Wombles, Huxley Pig and Bangers and Mash. He then shifted his career to painting in 2007, when he entered an art contest held by Washington Green Fine Art. Finishing in the top three, Davison was quickly snatched up and signed by the publisher, and his art career has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Although now a professional artist, Davison still uses his cartoonist background in his current work, evident through his ability to effortlessly convey motion and excitement in his paintings.
This new collection is a particularly poignant milestone in Davison’s career as it was specifically requested by fans of his work. Unlike his past collections, these pieces are based solely on Davison’s imagination, and are not influenced by past experiences, in what Davison describes as an aim to “take the viewer back to a time in their life when anything seemed possible”.
Speaking about the inspiration behind his work, Davison said: “I’ve had so many requests from people wanting these particular space themed images, so I thought this would be perfect for a large group of paintings with plenty of different images and ideas to play with.
“As always, my pieces focus on the imagined worlds of children where anything is possible, the theme is simply the thread that holds the group of images together.
“My favourite piece is ‘BMX Wings’, this painting was always the centre piece for me, and I hope I captured the sense of chaos and ball game based drama.”
Limited edition prints of Craig Davison’s work are available to buy and start from £450.
Craig Davison’s collection is now available to view free of charge at Castle Fine Art, ICC.
For more information please visit Castle Fine Art, ICC, telephone 0121 248 8484 or visit www.castlegalleries.com or www.craigdavisonart.com