David Platts was born in India in 1940 and came to England in 1947. He left school at 16 and trained and worked as a commercial artist with exhibition/display contractors and advertising agencies in London and the provinces until 1965. He then studied at York School of Art for two years before being awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Art where he graduated in 1970. Between 1965 and 1970 he was involved with a variety of design projects all of which were put into production (design for furnishing & fashion fabrics, wallpapers, shape and decoration for earthenware, stoneware and glassware.

Whilst at the RCA he was a prize-winner in the International Textile Design Competition, Paris, the International Wallpaper Design Competition, London, and the painting competition sponsored by Harrods Ltd. in conjunction with the RCA. He was also awarded a travel scholarship by the Royal College of Art for extensive travel throughout the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. At this time a screen printed painting was included in an exhibition in New York of students' work from the RCA: this was the springboard for ideas developed later in paintings.

Since graduation he has exhibited in solo and group shows: the British International Print Biennale, Bradford and its subsequent touring exhibition; the Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; the Piece Hall Art Gallery, Halifax; the Huddersfield Art Gallery; Kettles Yard, Cambridge; the Oxford Gallery; the DLI Museum and Art Centre, Durham; the University of East Anglia; Newport Museum and Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery; the Winchester Art Gallery; York City Art Gallery and the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. His work has also been exhibited in group shows in London at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, the first and second International Contemporary Art Fairs, the Brompton Gallery and the Affordable Art Fair. From 1983-87 he was represented by the Brompton Gallery and briefly afterwards by the Salama-Caro Gallery. In 1987 he had a one person show at Quinton Green Fine Art, London.

From 1970 to 1992 he was employed at various times as a lecturer in painting, drawing and design in Fine Art and Design departments at Art colleges, Polytechnics and Universities. No painting was produced between 1974-79 due to the trauma of a mugging. In 1992 work ceased again when clinical depression and ME were diagnosed and he suffered a breakdown. From 1995-97 he made a series of drawings which led to the resumption of his painting: the new body of work represents paintings, drawings and maquettes for sculpture executed since 1997 to the present day.