David Baird (b. 1986, USA) is an oil painter and draftsman focused primarily on figurative work. While inspired by subject matter familiar to art history, his work is equally motivated by the translation of perception into painting, a process by which the sensuality of experience is in constant tension with the materiality of paint.
Benefitting from extensive exposure to some of Europe's greatest works of art, the artist has traveled broadly. He has attended classes throughout the US and Europe, including Ryder Studio School (NM, USA), the Art Students League (NYC, USA), Studio Escalier (FR), and the Jerusalem Studio School (Jerusalem, IL). In 2019, the artist was awarded the Avigdor Arikha Masterclass Scholarship to continue his studies in Italy.
He has participated in numerous exhibitions, including the inaugural exhibition Memento Vivere in 2021, celebrating the reopening of the historic Lyme Academy in Lyme, CT. In 2022, he won first prize in the New York Figurative Show at the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York, NY, and was subsequently invited to exhibit in the first ever Hartley Invitational at the same institution. Most recently his work was featured alongside some of the most prominent figurative artists working today in the show Beyond Description, a dual-gallery exhibition taking place simultaneously in Seattle, WA and New York, NY.
The artist is represented by Tregony Gallery in London, UK, and Mary Woerner Fine Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. He currently lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.
Education
2018-19 Jerusalem Studio School, Jerusalem, Israel
2015, 2017, 2019 JSS in Civita, Civita Castellana, IT
2013-2015 Studio Escalier, Argenton, FR
2011 Janus Collaborative, New York, NY
2009-10 Art Students League, New York, NY
2007 Ryder Studio School, Santa Fe, NM
2004-2006 University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 HARTLEY INVITATIONAL, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, USA
2022 MONOCHROME, Chauncey Stillman Gallery, Lyme, CT, USA
2022 BEYOND DESCRIPTION, Sugarlift Gallery/Figure Ground Gallery, New York, NY/Seattle, WA, USA
2022 HARTLEY INVITATIONAL, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, USA
2022 NEW YORK FIGURATIVE SHOW, 2022, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, USA
2021 MEMENTO VIVERE, Chauncey Stillman Gallery, Lyme, CT, USA
2021 AUTUMN SELECTION, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, UK
2021 PAINTED BIENNIAL, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA
2021 PROMENADE IV, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, UK
2021 BLOOM, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA
2021 Hampstead Art Society Summer Exhibition, London, UK
2015 The Hesketh Hubbard Art Society Annual Exhibition, London, UK
2012 Spring Show, Littlehouse Gallery, Birmingham, AL, USA
Awards and Honors
2022 1st Prize, New York Figurative Show, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
2019 Avigdor Arikha Memorial Masterclass Scholarship, JSS in Civita, Civita Castellana, IT
2006 Merit Scholarship, Art Students League, NY
2005 Studio Art Scholarship, University of Alabama
2004 Studio Art Scholarship, University of Alabama
Teaching
2022 Perceptual Color, Penn Studio School, Online Course
2021 Space One Eleven Artfix Figure Painting, Birmingham, AL
2021 Space One Eleven Artfix Figure Drawing, Birmingham, AL
2019 Perceptual and Conceptual Color, Melbourne, AU
2018 Figure Drawing, Melbourne, AU
2018 Visiting Artist Lecture and Demonstration, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL
2016 Autumn Intensive, Argenton Chateau, Studio Escalier, FR
2016 Spring Portrait Painting, Argenton Chateau, Studio Escalier, FR
2016 Spring Figure Painting, Argenton Chateau, Studio Escalier, FR
2016 Figures of Thought, Lecture/Demo, Auburn University, AL
2016 Portrait Painting, Demonstration, Mountain Brook Arts Society, AL
2016 Drawing the Figure, Rosenstiel Studio, Tuscaloosa, AL
2016 Figure Drawing, Forstall Art Center, Birmingham, AL
2015 Autumn Intensive, Argenton Chateau, Studio Escalier, FR
2015 Figure Painting, Ericaceous Studios, Dorking, UK
2014 Portrait Painting, Forstall Art Center, Birmingham, AL
2014 Assistant Faculty, Autumn Intensive, Argenton Chateau, Studio Escalier, FR