Gwen M. Davidson

Critical reception Critics have described Davidson's art favorably. Helen Harrison wrote in The New York Times that Davidson's paintings "...rely on strong geometric frameworks for their architecture-based abstractions. Ms. Davidson's elegant compositions refer to beams, girders and other building supports, but these heavy, dark elements are softened by erasures and overpainting, and offset by areas of soft, translucent color."

Bob Hicks of Oregon ArtsWatch said, "Portland painter Davidson shows some deceptively placid-looking painted and collaged landscapes from the Oregon Coast. Look, and then look again."

David Carmack Lewis wrote, "She works initially with a combination of acrylic paint and charcoal on paper. The paper, in rectangular strips of varying proportions, are then applied to canvas. The method gives the work a rigid geometric framework but the organic nature of her subject not only survives but somehow thrives within it... Even her most abstract pieces unfailingly capture a genuine sense of place and atmosphere."

Another reviewer wrote that her art is characterized by:

Selected exhibitions Davidson's works are in permanent collections of the Portland Art Museum, Nordstrom and the state of Oregon Collection, as well as corporate and public collections, including the cities of Seattle and Portland, King County Justice Center, the State Employment Building in Salem, Oregon, Intuit, Lucent, and Willamina Lumber Company.

Her exhibitions include:

2014 - Reflections, Froelick Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 2012 - Abstract Landscapes, Froelick Gallery 2009 - Coastal Landscapes, Froelick Gallery 2007 - Point of Reference, Froelick Gallery 2004 - Relative Values, Froelick Gallery 2003 - Recent Work, Davidson Galleries (Seattle, Washington) 2002 - Froelick Gallery 2001 - Gwen Davidson: Recent Work, Davidson Galleries 2001 - Paintings, Froelick Gallery 1999 - Froelick Adelhart Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 1996 - Big Drawings, Small Paintings, Portland Community College—Northview Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 1992 - Gallery 114 (Portland, Oregon) 1990 - Portland State University—Littman Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 1986 - Portland State University (thesis)—Gallery 299

Awards and honors Davidson's art was selected for inclusion in the Oregon Biennial in 2001.