about


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

    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

    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