Douglas Cantor Columbian , b. 1989

Originally from Colombia, but now based in Glasgow, Douglas Cantor (b. 1989) is a master of colour, style and expression. He has works in a number of private collections, as well as in The Ingram Collection of Modern and Contemporary British Art.Cantor's work has a Matisse-like quality to it, filled with vibrant colours, and an emphasis on the juxtaposing patterns. Focusing on the recurring motifs of horses and nude women, Cantor draws on a multitude of references inlcuding antiquity and his own personal life.

Cantor's women are powerful, often engaging in direct eye contact with the viewer. The figures are attractive, but they are certainly not sex symbols. They take control of the space they inhabit, and are often posed unashamedly displaying their entire bodies. Cantor takes the nude and brings it firmly into the contemporary sphere, using thick brushstrokes to somehow create both a flat and dimensional canvas. On his largest canvases, Cantor's nudes are intimidating and eerie both in their scale and in their resistance to objectification. 

The female nude in Cantor's works is often seen alongside a horse - or more specifically, a stallion. These powerful and muscular beings are an embodiment of the artist himself. A symbol that references Cantor's own upbringing, the horse is an extension of the working man, a symbol of power and wealth. At the core of Cantor's work is the immediacy of personal experience, emotion and imagination.