Simon McWilliams
Born in Belfast, Simon McWilliams trained at the University of Ulster and then at the Royal Academy Schools in London. An award winning artist, his paintings can be found in many of the major collections of Irish Art today.
"He takes his immediate urban surroundings as his subject, through superb draughtsmanship and richly textured layers of paint he produces images that carry the conviction of an observed vision but which are in fact the creation of a parallel and imagined place; emotionally charged abstractions that reveal something his own spiritual relationship with the places that fascinate him." They are also paintings that investigate the meeting of abstract and figurative elements, where colour and surface combine to suggest an elaborate evocation of mood and atmosphere that has led Dr. Brian Kennedy, Keeper of the Ulster Museum to write that McWilliams is a “painter’s painter … His handling of paint is sensuous, tactile almost with a life of it’s own within the medium, in a way that few painters understand nowadays.”
Ranging from heavy impasto to the most delicate scumbles and washes his work, first and foremost, is a celebration of painting. McWilliams' work examines the timeless way in which the structural environment of a city intertwines with human presence, a subject that has resulted in seventeen awards for painting in the past eight years.
Drawing on Belfast's past, present and future, his paintings manage to combine both realist and abstract visions of a changing world where Palm houses come to occupy the same territory as modern office blocks and radio masts.
His works are very much a painter's way of describing one's surroundings; allowing richly textured layers of paint and design to construct, shape and inform every aspect of the picture resulting in a tactile and forthright vision of a time and place. While the primary inspiration is his experience of urban settings, he equally enjoys uniting human elements within these environments, reminding us of our unconscious relationship to the buildings around us.
1995-98 The Royal Academy Schools, London
1989-92 BA (Hons) Fine Art University of Ulster
1988-89 Art & Design, University of Ulster
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2006 John Martin Gallery, London "Belfast paintings"
2001 Art Space Gallery, Michael Richardson Contemporary Art, London
2000 Solomon Gallery, Dublin
1995 Cavehill Gallery, Belfast
1993 Cavehill Gallery, Belfast
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2009 179th Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition, Dublin
2009 The Ava Gallery, The World in Black and White
2009 Ava Gallery, New Year Works
2009 Joan Lukas Rothenberg Gallery, New York
2008 Cavehill Gallery, Christmas Show
2008 Wexford Festival, Johnstone Castle
2008 The Invisible Collection, Ava Gallery
2008 Tripod III Galway
2008 Boyle Arts Festival 2008
2008 Inishlacken: A Place Apart, Galway Arts Centre and touring
2007 Fenton Gallery, December Group Show, Cork
2007 The UTV collection:a Fresh Look, Highlanes Gallery
2007 Platform II, Cavan
2007 Cavehill Gallery Group Show
2007 Double Elephant, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast
2007 Modern & Contemporary Irish Art, Sothebys London
2007 Royal Ulster Academy, Ormeau Baths Gallery,Belfast
2007 Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition Dublin
2007 New Art from Northern Ireland. Katzen Arts center, Washington. USA
2007 Recent Aquisitions, Queens University Collection, Naughton Gallery Belfast
2007 Glasgow Ar Fair
2007 Wexford Opera Festival Exhibition, EPA Headquarters Wexford
2006 Fenton Gallery, Cork,
2006 The Discerning Eye, The Mall, London
2006 Wexford Festival Exhibition hosted by Joan Lambert, Johnstown Castle, Wexford
2006 Sothebys Post War and Contemporary Irish Art, RHA Dublin & Sothebys, Bond Street, London
2006 "Reflections" Joint Government Exhibition, Touring
2006 Solomon Gallery
2006 "Collectors Collections" Ormeau Baths Gallery Belfast
2006 Boyle Arts Festival, Roscommon
2005 Royal Ulster Academy, Ulster Museum
2005 Solomon Gallery, Dublin
2005 Royal Hibernian Academy 175th Annual Show, Dublin Invited Artist
2004 Fenton Gallery, Cork
2004 Invited Artist Royal Hibernian Academy
2004 The Hunting Art Prizes 2004 Royal College of Art, London
2003 Lexmark European Art Prize Finalists exhibition
2003 The Hunting Art Prizes, Royal College of Art, London
2002, 2001, 2000, Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition, Ulster Museum Belfast
2002, 2000 Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition, Dublin
2001 Solomon Gallery, Dublin
1999 Klinginmuseum, "Light in Art", Solingen, Germany
1999 Art Space Gallery, "Four young Painters", London
1999 Royal Hibernian Academy, 169th Exhibition, Invited Artist, Dublin
1999 The Hunting Art Prizes, Royal College of Art, London
1999 Long & Ryle Gallery. London
1999 The Royal Overseas League, London
1998 Royal Academy Schools, London
1998 Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, London
1997 Sackler Galleries, Premiums exhibition Royal Academy of Arts, London
1997 National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
1997,96 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy London
GRANTS/ AWARDS:
2009 FringeMK Annual Painting Prize Finalist
2007 Celeste Art Prize Shortlisted Artist
2006 Discerning Eye London, Regional Prize
2006 Elected Royal Ulster Academician
2005 Mills Selig Award
2002 Major Individual award, (Arts Council of NI)
2001 (2000,99,94,93) Arts Council of NI Visual Arts Bursaries
1999 Silver Medal, Royal Ulster Academy
1999 Abbey Stained Glass Studio Award, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
1999 Hunting Art Prizes, Gallery Award, London
1998 Arts Council of Ireland, Equipment Grant.
1998 Elizabeth Fitzpatrick Bursary, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
1998 Nicholas & Andre Tooth Travel Award, London
1998 Gilchrist Fisher Award, London
1997 British Institute award for Painting, London
1997 John Compton award Royal Academy, London
1996 The Guinness Award, Royal Academy Summer Show, London
1996 "Belfast '91" Award
1994 Northern Ireland Arts Club Award
1992 Belfast Young Contemporaries, prize-winner, One Oxford Street Gallery
1992 Thomas Dammann Junior Travel Award, Arts Council of Northern Ireland
PRINT EXHIBITIONS:
2009 University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, New Hampshire
2009 Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
2008 Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Massachusetts
2008 Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
2007 Martha Street Studios, Winnipeg, Canada
2007 Rediscover Ireland, Washington, USA
2006 Gordon Gallery, Derry
2006 Clotworthy Arts Centre, Antrim
2007 Graphic Print Studio, Dublin
2007 Droigheda Arts Centre, Drogheda
1997 National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2005Impact Printmaking conference,Berlin/Poznan
2007 Glasgow art Fair
PUBLICATIONS:
Simon McWilliams "Belfast Paintings", John Martin Gallery , London
COMMISSIONS:
ESB Ireland, Coolkeeragh Power Station
Bank of Ireland Limited edition Prints
Guinness
COLLECTIONS:
The Ulster Museum, Belfast
Queens University Belfast
University of Ulster Permanent Collection
Boyle Civic Collection
Northern Ireland Civil Service/ Government Art Collection
Office of Public Works, Ireland
Department of Finance, Northern Ireland
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Allied Irish Banks (Dublin)
Bank of Ireland
Permanent TSB (Dublin)
Guinness PLC (London),
Centrum Kunstlicht in de Kunst (Eindhoven),
Construction Emplotyers Federation NI
National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, Limerick
Ulster Television PLC, Belfast
The Haverty Trust, Ireland
UNISON for Northern Ireland
The Mater Hospital
Brian O Halloran & Associates Architects
McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors, Dublin
Brian O Donnell & Partners, Dublin
Parker Green International
The Bar Library, Belfast
ESB, Ireland
Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland