Artist biography
David Airhart was born in Hamilton, Montana, in 1953. He graduated from Boise State University in 1975 and became an influential presence in Boise’s emerging art community. As a founding member of the Boise Art Group, he contributed to an independent platform for contemporary artists and audiences.
Airhart founded and directed Art Attack Gallery, presenting more than seventy exhibitions and helping develop contemporary art in Idaho. He received an Idaho Commission on the Arts Painting Fellowship in 1986. Today, he is based in Portland, Oregon.
Airhart’s paintings often start without a predetermined scene. Abstract arrangements of color, shape, and line suggest faces or figures; these discoveries become the starting point for narratives informed by current events, social concerns, and personal experience. His recurring themes include identity, relationships, environmental change, war, community, and the contradictions of everyday life. He uses metaphor, ambiguity, irony, and humor rather than literal illustration.
Selected exhibitions
- 1981 — Revealing Portraits, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
- 1992 — Excuse Me While I Reset My Watch, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
- 1995 — Paintings, Archer Gallery, Vancouver, Washington
- 1997 — 100 Heads and Other Works, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho
- 2007 — Hidden Stories, The Art Gym at Marylhurst University
- 2021 — Up Close & Personal, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington
Selected collections
Works by Airhart are represented in collections including the Boise Art Museum, Whatcom Museum, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.
Studio archive and references
The selected paintings archive presents 33 works with titles and dimensions confirmed by the artist and his family. The accompanying illustrated catalogue also includes a bibliography, exhibition history, and image credits.
Additional documentation is available from Stewart Gallery's artist profile and artist résumé.
Studio inquiries: davidairhartstudio@frontier.com.