About

 

                            Childhood, Boyhood, Youth by David Hosie

Hosie’s figures appear to symbolise a sense of aloneness and a search for identity. Where the onlookers eye is made to rest on a frozen stillness. Child/adult figures wrestle with their own presence, often accompanied by images of broken aeroplanes, guns and other toy like props. Lovers float and fall within silent skies where the static quality of the protagonists serve to intensify the emotional aspect to the viewer.

John Griffiths describes Hosie’s work as “figures like secular saints of a maimed culture, belonging to a work of new magic painting. Influences ranging from the static nature of Piero della Franchesca and early Renaissance painting to the dislocated human presence found in the metaphysical work of Carlo Carra”. Hosie says of his work “we are confronted with destruction, guilt, conscience and perhaps a frail optimism”. Apptly conveyed in a painting titled “Guilt, Hate, Shame, Revenge, Love” where a beautiful woman looking out at us in a long evening dress holds an automatic waepon framed by an evening sky.

The stark introspective of imagery in the work is challenging and ominus yet images of youth are arguably symbols of hope, optimism and regeneration which serves to emphasis Hosie’s notion of the “fragility of optimism”.

Born Glasgow, 1962. Trained at Edinburgh College of Art graduating with MA in 1986.

Related professional experience:

Tutor and Lecturer of Drawing and Painting, Glasgow School of Art, 1988-91. Edinburgh College of Art, 1993-2005.

Visiting Lecturer, Duncan of Jordanstone, 1990. Berkeley University, California, 1990.

Solo Exhibitions

2009
New Paintings, Union Gallery, Edinburgh
Jill George Gallery, London
2007
Jill George Gallery, London
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2000
Front Store Gallery, Basle, Switzerland
Jill George Gallery, London
1998
Jill George Gallery, London
1995
Jill George Gallery, London
1994
Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow
1992
Jill George Gallery, London
1990
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Artside Gallery, Bath
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York
1989
Roger Ramsay Gallery, Chicago
1987
Raab Gallery, London

Group Exhibitions

2009
20/21 British Art Fair, London
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art 2009, Business Design Centre, Jill George Gallery, London
Albany Lane, Edinburgh
2008
20/21 British Art Fair, London
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art 2008, Business Design Centre, Jill George Gallery, London
2007
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Glasgow Art Fair, Jill George Gallery
Art Chicago, Jill George Gallery
2006
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art Chicago, Jill George Gallery
2005
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art Chicago, Jill George Gallery
Art London, Burton’s Court Chelsea, Jill George Gallery
2004
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
2003
Art London, Burton’s Court Chelsea, Jill George Gallery
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
2002
Art 2002, London
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
2001
Art 2001, London
20/21 British Art Fair, London
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
Toronto International Art Fair, Canada
2000
San Francisco International Art Exposition
Toronto International Art Fair, Canada
20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London
Art 2000, London
1999
Santa Fe Art Fair, Santa Fe, USA
Art ‘99, London
‘The Figure Show’, Jill George Gallery, London
20th Century Art Fair, London
British Airways Exhibition, Edinburgh
1998
‘Figure Paintings III’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art ’98, London
Art Aid, Crusaid Scotland, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Glasgow Art Fair
BP Portrait Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London
1997
‘Figure Paintings II’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art ’97, London
Glasgow Art Fair
Group Exhibition, Jill George Gallery, London
Contemporary Print Fair, Barbican, London
1996
‘Figure Paintings’, Jill George Gallery, London
Art ’96, London
Glasgow Art Fair
BP Portrait Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London
1995
Art ’95, London
LA Invitational, Sharon Truax Fine Art, Venice, California
‘Drawing Show III’, Jill George Gallery, London
1994
Art ’94, London
1992
Royal Glasgow Institute, Glasgow
6 British Artists, de’Serpenti Gallery, Rome (selected by Lady Marina Vaizey)
‘London to LA’, Venice, California, Jill George Gallery
ARCO ’92, Madrid, Spain, Jill George Gallery
1991
‘Discerning Eye’, Mall Gallery, London (selected by John Russell-Taylor)
6th International Art Fair, Los Angeles
1990
‘Lion Rampant’, Art Space, San Francisco
Raab Gallery, Berlin
Gian Ferrari Artecontemporanea, Milan
‘Turning the Century: The New Scottish Painting’, as survey of Contemporary Scottish Art, Raab Gallery, Millbank, London
1989
Opening exhibition of Raab Gallery, Millbank, London
1988
‘Works on Paper’, Raab Gallery, London
‘The Rape of Europe’, Raab Gallery, London
‘The Rape of Europe’, Galleria Gian Ferrari, Milan
1987
‘Germinations’, Frauen Museum, Bonn
‘Germinations’, Royal College of Art, London
‘Germinations’, De Beyerd Centre for Contemporary Art, Breda
‘Germinations’, Centre de la Vieille Charite, Marseilles
1986
The Tron Gallery, Glasgow
‘Works on Paper’, travelling exhibition, San Francisco
‘New Generation Show’, Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1985
Contemporary Arts Society, London

Awards

1996
BP National Portrait Exhibition
1992
Royal Glasgow Institute
1986
George Jackson Hutchison Award (for painting)
Andrew Grant Major Award
Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship
1985
Richard Ford Award (Spanish Travelling Scholarship), Royal Academy, London

Collections

  • The Scottish Arts Council
  • The Royal Scottish Academy
  • City Arts Centre, Edinburgh
  • Bank of England
  • Financial Services Authority
  • Robert Fleming & Co
  • Contemporary Arts Society
  • Unilever Plc
  • Bankers Trust
  • Electra Plc
  • Allied Breweries
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Gartmore Investment Mgt
  • WH Smith & Son Ltd