Robert Charles Davidson, also called Guud San Glans, is a Haida artist who was born November 4, 1946 in Hydaburg Alaska. He moved with his family to Massett on Haida Gwaii, Queen Charlotte Islands in 1947 and lived there until moving to Vancouver to pursue his education. It was in Vancouver that he first learned the fundamentals of silk-screening, drawing and design skills but it was not until 1966, when he began an eighteen month apprenticeship with Haida artist Bill Reid, that he launched his career as an artist.
Davidson constantly challenges himself to expand his knowledge and understanding of Haida art and culture. He has learned about Haida art from both living and ancestral Haida artists through his close community ties and work with museums and anthropologists. Davidson was surrounded by fine carving from an early age as his father Claude Davidson, Grandfather Robert Davidson Sr, and Great Grandfather Charles Edenshaw were respected carvers in Massett. Robert began carving during his early teens to carry on the family artistic tradition. Since that time, he has continued to explore the carved form in a variety of traditional and non-traditional media.
Robert Davidson was one of the first northwest coast artists to apply two dimensional design to limited edition prints. As a young artist he learned to cut his own screens and hand pull prints from them. His first editions were not numbered or signed. In 1970 he began numbering and signing his editions. He progressed from single color prints of traditional Haida crest designs to two color original images developed from his own work in wood and silver.
Davidson’s inquiry into Haida concepts of abstraction opens up the visual language, form, and tradition of Haida art. In his more recent work of the last decade, Davidson highlights shifts between abstract and representational images, often blurring the boundary between the two. Work opens up the discussion about the place of indigenous, community-based knowledge within the realm of contemporary art practice.
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Grizzly Bear by Davidson, Robert |
Education
Apprenticeship, Master Artist Bill Reid
Vancouver School of Art, Vancouver, BC
Selected Exhibitions
1971, Solo Exhibition, Vancouver Museum and Planetarium, Vancouver, BC
1978 Solo Exhibition, Bent Box Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1979 Solo Exhibition, Cycles – The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson: A Retrospective, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1979 Solo Exhibition, Cycles – The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson: A Retrospective, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1980, Group Exhibition, The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona
1982, Group Exhibition, Legacy – Contemporary BC Indian Art, BC Provincial Museum, Victoria, BC
1983, Solo Exhibition, Fachwerk Gallery in Bad Salzuflen, West Germany
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Arts and Artists 1931 – 1983, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Printmakers, Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
1983, Solo Exhibition, Fachwerk Gallery in Bad Salzuflen, West Germany
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Arts and Artists 1931 – 1983, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Printmakers, Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Collector’s Vision, Barrie Art Gallery, Barrie, Ontario
1989, Solo Exhibition, Eagle Song, The Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Masks, The Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1990, Group Exhibition, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989, Solo Exhibition, Eagle Song, The Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Masks, The Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1990, Group Exhibition, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1993, Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
1993, Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
1999, Group Exhibition: Arrows of the Spirit, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA
2006 Group Exhibition, Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Group Exhibition, Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006, Solo Exhibition, Robert Davidson:The Abstract Edge, McMichael Gallery, Toronto, On
Work Cited
