David Hughes :: Biography

Originally hailing from Wales, I have lived in Belfast, first in the village of Drumbo and more recently on or near the Lisburn Road, since 2005. I sort of retired here with my young family after a career as an academic at The Nottingham Trent University and University of Hull. My academic interests combined philosophy and contemporary modes of performance.

Prior to my academic work I trained as an actor and director at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studied philosophy and literature at Warwick University and critical theory at University of Southampton. These experiences led to a period of arts criticism, journalism, and magazine editorship.

Throughout my working life I have made art. Sometimes as the main thrust of my work, as when, in the 1970s I made theatre works. And sometimes alongside my main work, as when I wrote fiction, libretti and essays from the mid-80s.

When we arrived in Belfast, where my then partner was to take up a post at the University of Ulster, my focus moved from the blank page to the blank video screen and the blank canvas, developing a practice in visual art. I exhibited a number of times in Belfast in the 2010s and, now, after a fallow period in my life, in my sixth decade, I am picking up where I left off. This exhibition at the Lisburn Road Library is a very welcome opportunity to show some of the ideas on which I have recently been working.

Finaghy, February  2023