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 exhibited internationally. Recent venues include: P.S.1/MoMA, Blank Space Gallery, and The Painting Center (all NYC), 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.
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curriculum vitae
Education
| 2001 | M.F.A., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia |
| 1993 | B.A., Goshen College, Indiana |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2010 | “Ring The Bells Anew,” Blank Space Art, New York, NY “Fruitville,” Somewalls, Oakland, CA |
| 2009 | “Field + Stream,” The Painting Center, New York, NY “Joseph’s Coat,” The Philadelphia Cathedral “Joseph’s Coat,” 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 “Contemplations,” Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA |
| 2005 | Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2002 | Peng Gallery, Philadelphia Goshen College, IN |
| 1997 | University City Arts League, Philadelphia University of Montana-Western, Dillon |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2009 | “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 |
| 2008 | “Minus Space,” PS1/MoMA, Long Island City, NY “Considerable,” University of Dayton, OH |
| 2007 | “Summary, 2007,” Gallery Siano, Philadelphia “Escape from New York,” Sydney Non Objective (SNO), Sydney, Australia (traveled to Curtin University in Perth, 2008, RMIT University School of Art in Melbourne, 2009) “Across the Borderline,” collaborative works by Chris Ashley & Douglas Witmer, University of Dayton, OH “I Walk the Line–Three Abstract Artists in the 21st Century,” Mary Early, Linn Meyers, & Douglas Witmer, University of Maryland, College Park. |
| 2006 | “Suitcase,” Bus-Dori, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2005 | “Douglas Witmer & Sandi Lovitz,” Pfenninger Gallery, Lancaster, PA |
| 2004 | “From the Studio,” The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia. “Repetition and Transformation,” The Philadelphia Cathedral. |
| 2003 | “Dennis Lo, Leslie Wagner, & Douglas Witmer,” Peng Gallery, Philadelphia “New Talent,” Signal 66, Washington, DC “White Light,” The Beehive Salon, Philadelphia. “From Abstraction to Representation,” The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA. |
| 2001 | “10 Young Painters,” Miami University of Ohio, Oxford
“Art in City Hall,” Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia |
Bibliography/Videography
| 2009 | Alexander, Steven, “Douglas Witmer at The Philadelphia Cathedral,” Steven Alexander Journal, February 14. Kirsch, Andrea, “Philadelphia Notes: Contemplative Minimalism” Fallon & Rosof’s Artblog, Philadelphia PA, February 9. Langley, Matthew, “Douglas Witmer at The Painting Center,” Matthew Langley Art Blog, June 18. Mattera, Joanne, “Witmer, Patterson, at The Painting Center,” Joanne Mattera Art Blog, June 17. |
| 2008 | Hallard, Brent, “How Soon is Now?,” interview, Visual Discrepancies blog, Tokyo, Japan, December 5. |
| 2007 | Colaizzi, Vitorrio, “A Vigilant Turn from Complacency,” exhibition review, Brick Weekly, Richmond, VA, January 10
Koo, Li, “Gallery Notes: I Walk the Line,” podcast interview, University of Maryland, March Newhall, Edith, “Summery Summary,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 3 Wagner, Laura, “Art Pals Feature Works in Rike,” Dayton Flyer News, University of Dayton, Ohio, January 19. |
| 2006 | Gierschick, Tim, “Douglas Witmer at Gallery Siano,” exhibition review, Gierschickwork (on-line), December
Strickland, Heather, “Eclecticism on Display at Red Door Gallery,” The Collegian, University of Richmond, December 7 |
| 2005 | Ashley, Chris, “In conversation with Douglas Witmer, essay and interview, Minus Space, Brooklyn, December
Hallard, Brent, “X Marks the Spot,” Project 131 (on-line / Tokyo, Japan), July 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, “Artists on Video,” Romanblog (on-line / Philadelphia), January Silverthorne, Alexandra, “Artists Interview Artists, Thinking About Art (on-line / Washington), July |
| 2004 | Doering, Elizabeth H., “Repetition and Transformation,” essay for exhibition of the same title, The Philadelphia Cathedral, January 2004
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, VA, November Walz, Jonathan F., “Reality Check,” exhibition brochure essay, Peng Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, April |
Residencies | Lectures | Critiques
| 2007 | Lecture, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York Visiting Artist/Critic, University of Dayton, OH |
| 2006 | Artist-in-Residence, Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, Saint Mary’s City |
| 2005 | Artist-in-Residence, Glen Arbor Art Association / Sleeping Bear Dune’s National Lakeshore, Glen Arbor, MI |
| 2002 | Visiting Artist/Lecture, Goshen College, IN |
| 2000 | Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson (residency grant) |
Collections
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
Numerous private collections in the United States
Affiliations
Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY
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site credits
Site design and photography by Douglas Witmer, using the Infimum theme for WordPress version 2.7 as a starting point.
All text and images © Douglas Witmer, unless noted otherwise (used with permission).
Weblog posts from 2005-08 are still accessible here.
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(Typeface is Helvetica, a font white people love.)