David Mulholland (1946–2005) was a painter from the north-east of England whose work primarily depicted the people and environment around his home in
South Bank
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...
, North Yorkshire. He was the second son of Jean (née Wells) and James. His father worked as a labourer in the local steelworks.
Education
He attended Cromwell Road Junior School and Victoria Street Secondary Modern. Upon leaving school, at the age of fifteen, he spent two years at
Middlesbrough Art College. He moved to London when awarded a scholarship to
Byam Shaw School of Art and progressed from there to the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...
from where he graduated, in 1971, with an MA in Fine Art and Anthropology.
Career
The three years after graduation from RCA were spent sailing the seas with the
College of the Sea – providing art tutelage to merchant seamen and continuing with his own painting. By the time he completed that, he had family responsibilities so returned to
Teesside, did a post-graduate course in education and got a job as an art teacher at Gillbrook School (now
Gillbrook Academy
Gillbrook Academy (formerly ''Gillbrook College'') was a mixed academy and sixth form in Teesville, Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire. It merged with neighbouring Eston Park Academy in September 2014 and now forms part of a new single Hills ...
). He remained in teaching until 1992.
Although he spent seven years attending art colleges in London he continued to spend considerable time back home in South Bank, and the environment around there featured in most of the paintings and drawings that he exhibited in a retrospective show at Middlesbrough Art Gallery in 1972. Although this exhibition brought some acclaim, there would be only one other exhibition of his work during his lifetime – at the Chapel Beck Gallery in Guisborough in 1978. After that he became disillusioned with the art world and declined offers of further exhibitions. He still continued to paint but distributed his work among people that he knew, or exchanged it for goods and services.
Due to his idiosyncratic approach to his work, he was not widely known when he died at the age of fifty-six from cancer of the throat. His fame has increased since his death, however, through two major exhibitions of his work. The first of these, at the
Dorman Museum
Dorman Museum is a local and social history museum on the town centre side of Albert Park, Linthorpe in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of two museums operated by the local borough council, along with the Captain Cook birt ...
in Middlesbrough (October 2012 – June 2013), prompted the editor of
The Jackdaw
''The Jackdaw'' is a British arts magazine, published since 2000 in London, United Kingdom.
History and profile
''The Jackdaw'' was founded by art critic David Lee in 2000. He is also the editor of the magazine, which is critical of the art wor ...
to ask himself why he had not previously heard of David Mulholland and declared that his “work hit me immediately as authentic, born of intimate feeling for its subject". The second exhibition, at the
Kirkleatham
Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-northwest of Guisborough, and south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book.
The area has a collectio ...
Museum (January – June 2014), received a five-star review in the
Morning Star
Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise
** See also Venus in culture
* Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...
newspaper. Prior to these exhibitions, three paintings that expressed Mulholland’s reaction to the attack on the twin towers of the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
on 11 September 2001 were exhibited at the Dorman Museum to mark the tenth anniversary of the event.
[David Whetston]
"Artist’s 9/11 Pieces Set to Play Part in Anniversary", ''The Journal: Culture section'' (Newcastle-upon-Tyne)Tuesday 6 September 2011
References
Further reading
Peter McCarthy (2012) “David Mulholland, Painter” The Mulholland Foundation,
External sources
The Art of David Mulholland website.
Video of an exhibition opening.
Video about an exhibition.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulholland, David
1946 births
2005 deaths
English painters