Douglas Witmer was born in 1971 in Winchester, VA and raised in Lancaster County, PA. He has lived and worked in Philadelphia since 1995.
Witmer’s work intuitively combines simple geometric imagery, emphatic color, and subtle manipulation of surface physicality. It is an inquiry into the materiality of seeing, perception, feeling and memory.
His work has been the subject of over 10 solo exhibitions in the US, as well as curated group shows internationally. In 2011 the artist’s debut solo museum exhibition was mounted at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL (catalogue available). Other recent venues include: MoMA PS1, Blank Space Gallery, and The Painting Center (all NYC), AxD Gallery (Philadelphia), Some Walls (Oakland, CA), The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, The Philadelphia Cathedral, Pharmaka (Los Angeles), The University of Maryland, The University of Dayton (OH), Sydney Non-Objective (Australia), and Bus-Dori Project Space, Tokyo, Japan. His work is in public and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Education
2001 M.F.A., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1993 B.A., Goshen College, Indiana
Solo Exhibitions
2011
I Found A Reason, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL (catalogue)
Fruitville / The School Papers, AxD Gallery, Philadelphia
2010
Ring the Bells Anew, Blank Space Gallery, New York
Fruitville, Some Walls, Oakland, CA
2009
Field + Stream, Project Room, The Painting Center, New York
Joseph’s Coat, The Philadelphia Cathedral
Joseph’s Coat, Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, MN
2008
Today is the Day, M55 Art, Long Island City, NY
2006
The Black Keys, and Other Paintings, Gallery Siano, Philadelphia, PA
Contemplation, Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA
2002
New Paintings, Peng Gallery, Philadelphia
Douglas Witmer, Goshen College, Goshen, IN
1997
Recent Paintings, University City Arts League, Philadelphia.
Recent Paintings, University of Montana―Western, Dillon
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012
Crystal Days (with Timothy Buckwalter and Michael McFeat), Sugar, Philadelphia
West Philly Abstraction, University City Arts League, Philadelphia
2011
Flirting With Abstraction, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia (catalogue)
Painted, Painted, Pressed, C2 Fine Art, St. Petersburg, FL
Faction, University of Dayton
The Life of the World to Come : Chase the Tear, NIAD Art Center, Richmond CA
Streamline, C2 Fine Art, St. Petersburg
It’s All Good (Apocalypse Now!), Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2010
Informal Relations, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, IN
Escape from New York, The Engine Room, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
Invitational Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown PA
Ready, Willing, and Able Benefit, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia
2009
Preview 2010, Blank Space Gallery, New York
I Decree Today, Marx Gallery, Covington, KY
Touch Faith, Semantics, Cincinnati, OH
246 Editions, Pocket Utopia, Brooklyn
Back on My Feet Benefit, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia
My Certain Fate, Pharmaka, Los Angeles, CA
Escape from New York, Project Space Spare Room, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
2008
Minus Space, P.S.1/MoMA, New York, NY
Reload, M55 Art, Long Island City, NY
Considerable, University of Dayton, OH
2007
Escape from New York, Sydney Non-Objective, Sydney, Australia
Survey, 2007, Gallery Siano, Philadelphia
Across the Borderline, University of Dayton, OH. (2-person, collaborative works with Chris Ashley)
I Walk the Line―Three Abstract Artists in the 21st Century, University of Maryland, College Park
(with Mary Early and Linn Meyers)
2006
Suitcase, Bus-Dori project space, Tokyo, Japan
2005
Pfenninger Gallery, Lancaster, PA
The Urban Canvas, Gallery Siano, Philadelphia
2004
From the Studio, Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia.
Repetition and Transformation, The Philadelphia Cathedral
2003
Peng Gallery, Philadelphia. (3-person with Dennis Lo and Leslie Wagner)
2002
New Talent, Signal 66, Washington, DC
White Light, The Beehive Salon, Philadelphia.
From Abstraction to Representation, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
2001
3rd Annual Young Painters Competition for the William and Dorothy Yeck Award, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford
Art in City Hall, Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia
Related Experience
2011 Thomas P. Johnson Visiting Scholar, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL.
2009 Visiting Artist/Lecture, Goshen College, IN
2007 Lecture, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York City
Visiting Artist/Critic, University of Dayton, OH
2006 Artist-in-Residence/Critic/Lecture, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City
2005-present Artist selection committee, 40th Street Artist-in-Residence program, administered by
The University of Pennsylvania
2005 Artist-in-Residence, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore / Glen Arbor Art Association Glen Arbor, MI
2002 Visiting Artist/Lecture, Goshen College, IN
2000 Residency Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson
Bibliography
2012
Rosenthal, James, “Crystal Days at Sugar,” Pocket Intellectual, http://pocketintellectual.blogspot.com, March 13.
Rosof, Libby, “West Philadelphia Looking is Good, The ArtBlog, http://theartblog.org, March 22.
Sexton, Courtney, “Pop-up Art, Palpable Connections, and Papermade Fabulousness,” City Paper : Critical Mass blog, http://www.citypaper.net/blogs/criticalmass/CURATOR-March-9.html, March 9.
2011
Ashley, Chris, “A Way to Be in the World,” catalogue essay for I Found A Reason, Cornell Fine Arts
Museum, Rollins College, July.
Cognard-Black, Jennifer, “Streamline,” essay for exhibition of the same title, C2 Fine Art, St. Petersburg, July.
D’Alesandro, Dennis, “Douglas Witmer’s Fruitville and School Papers at AxD,” The Artblog, Mar 15.
Young, Jessica Bryce, “Pulp Fictions—Douglas Witmer’s meditative works on wood and paper,” Orlando Weekly,
August 18.
2010
Ashley, Chris, “Fruitville,” essay for exhibition of the same title, Some Walls, Oakland CA.
http://somewalls.com, June
Gierschick, P. Timothy, “Douglas Witmer at Blank Space Gallery,” Gierschickwork,
http://gierschickwork.blogspot.com, March 16
2009
Kirsch, Andrea, “Philadelphia Notes: Contemplative Minimalism” The ArtBlog, http://theartblog.org, February 9
Mattera, Joanne, “Witmer and Patterson at The Painting Center,” Joanne Mattera Art Blog,
http://joannemattera.blogspot.com, June 17
2008
Hallard, Brent, “How Soon is Now?,” interview, Visual Discrepancies blog, http://brenthallard.wordpress.com,
December 5
2007
Collaizi, Vittorio, “A Vigilant Turn from Complacency,” Brick Weekly, Richmond VA, January 11.
Koo, Li, “Gallery Notes: I Walk the Line,” podcast interview, University of Maryland, March.
Newhall, Edith, “Summery Summary,” The Philadelphia Inquirer,” August 3
Wagner, Laura, “‘Art Pals’ Feature Works in Rike,” Dayton Flyer News, January 19
2006
Strickland, Heather, “Eclecticism on Display at Red Door Gallery, The Collegian, University of Richmond, Dec 7
2005
Ashley, Chris, “In Conversation with Douglas Witmer,” Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY. December.
Hallard, Brent, “X Marks the Spot,” Project 131 (on-line), July 2005. www.brenthallard.com
Hill, Lori, “First Friday Focus: Gallery Siano,” Philadelphia City Paper, Thursday, October 6.
Holzman, Paula, “Two Takes on the Abstract,” Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, October 21
Romaniello, Vincent, “Douglas Witmer,” on-line video documentary, www.vincentromaniello.com/vlog, winter Silverthorne, Alexandra, “Artists Interview Artists,” Thinking About Art (on-line), August.
www.thinkingaboutart.blogs.com
2004
Doering, Elizabeth H., “Repetition and Transformation,” essay for exhibition of the same title,
The Philadelphia Cathedral, January
Fallon, Roberta, “A-List: Repetition and Transformation,” Philadelphia Weekly,” January 21
2002
Hill, Lori, “First Friday Focus: Peng Gallery,” Philadelphia City Paper, Thursday, April 4
Patterson, Carrie, “From Abstraction to Representation,” exhibition catalogue essay for exhibition of the
same title, Andrews Gallery, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, November
Walz, Jonathan F., “Reality Check,” exhibition brochure essay, Peng Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, April.
2001
Knapp, Tom, “Uncommon Ground,” Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, August 3
Collections
The Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia
The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Duane Morris, LLP, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Singapore,
Ho Chi Minh City
Wolf, Block, Schorr, and Solis-Cohen, LLP, Philadelphia
NanoSystems, King of Prussia, PA
Private collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Affiliations
Blank Space Art, Chelsea, NYC – blankspaceart.com
Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY – minusspace.com
C2 Fine Art, St. Petersburg, FL – c2fineart.com