Clayton Colvin

Clayton Colvin (born 1976) is an American contemporary abstract painter, multimedia artist, collagist, and curator of contemporary art who lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.

Education

Colvin received a BA in Art History from New York University in 1999 and an MA Ed. in Art Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2003. He received his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in painting from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL in 2005.

Colvin interned for Agnes, a photography art gallery in Birmingham, AL for several summers while attending University. As an undergraduate he interned for the Jack Tilton Gallery in New York City, NY. While there he worked with many of the gallery artists, most closely with Lyle Ashton Harris and Fred Tomaselli.

Art

Colvin is represented by Guido Maus, beta pictoris gallery / Maus Contemporary in Birmingham, AL. His 2013 exhibit at the gallery was reviewed in Art in America by Cinque Hicks. Colvin has exhibited at numerous art galleries including the launch F18 gallery in New York City, NY and the Mobile Museum of Art in 2014. Colvin was included in "Politics, Politics: Nice Artists Explore the Political Landscape" curated by Anne Arrasmith and Peter Prinz of Space One Eleven in Birningham, an exhibition funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts that also included Pinky Bass and John Trobaugh. Colvin's work was part of "Contour: The Definitive Line" curated by Jon Coffelt. This exhibition also included Sara Garden Armstrong, Lee Isaacs and Sean Slemon.

Colvin's work is included in the permanent collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Mobile Museum of Art.

Quotes about Colvin

• Clayton Colvin's work is an attempt to come to terms with the multitude of experiences we deal with day to day; a way of gaining insight, a way of understanding the present. His work is an effort to order, (re)present and mark his existence. - Brian Bishop (University of Alabama)
• Clayton Colvin's mixed media canvases and sketches are heavily coated with a clear vinyl that has the look of solidified gel. Isolated words are scribbled, sketchy lines and restless black arrows meander across a surface that suggest objects but have no real identity. On occasion Colvin labels his works as "Untitled" and then gives them titles in parentheses, such as "Metamorphosis," "Space Cadet" and "Ambassador," hinting at content but suggesting is content incidental to intent. - James R. Nelson, critic for The Birmingham News, 2006.