About

Ian Davenport was born in Kent, England, in 1966. He graduated from Goldsmiths College of Art, London, in 1988 and as one of the generation of Young British Artists; he participated in the seminal 1988 exhibition Freeze. In 1991 he was shortlisted for the Turner Prize, for which he remains the youngest ever nominee, and in 1999 was a prize winner in the John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool. Two years after graduating Davenport had his first solo show at Waddington Galleries, London, in 1990.Ian Davenport is well known for his abstract paintings, which explore process and materiality. In recent years his work has consisted of carefully poured lines of acrylic paint down a surface, which puddle and pool at the bottom. This technique allows him to explore complex arrangements of line and colour. Over the past ten years he has turned his attention to screenprinting and etching, building up an impressive body of graphic work.Davenport has exhibited extensively across the world, including major institutional shows at Dundee Contemporary Arts 1999 Ikon Gallery, Birmingham 2004); Tate Liverpool 2000 and Dallas Contemporary, Texas 2018. He has completed major commissions including Poured Lines Southwark Street, London 2006, a 48 metre wide painting on a bridge which is one of the largest permanent public artworks in the UK.