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Studio News | Spring 2013

Work is headed every which way over the next few months, and I’m curating a show in Philadelphia. Read on!


School Papers at NIAD Art Center, California
May 17 — June 28, 2013
NIAD Art Center
551 23rd Street
Richmond CA 94804

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What I Like About You at Parallel Art Space, Brooklyn
(in conjunction with Bushwick Open Studios)
May 31 – June 30, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday May 31st, 6 – 10 pm
Viewing Hours for BOS 2013: Saturday June 1 and Sunday, June 2 ,12 – 7 pm
Through June 30: Saturdays and Sundays 1-6 pm
Parallel Art Space
17-17 Troutman Street, # 220
Ridgewood NY 11385

Organized by Brooklyn artist Julie Torres, ‘What I Like About You’ is a continuation of last year’s Alltogethernow project, in which 11 international painters visited Bushwick for BOS 2012, to collaborate with local artists and exhibit those collaborations alongside their own work.

This year, artists are returning to showcase the work of artists they met and whose work they saw last year. New participants who weren’t present in 2012 have chosen artists’ work they have been interested in from afar.

19 international artists will arrive in Bushwick to select one piece from their chosen Brooklyn artist, and show that work alongside their own with a brief explanation of what drew them to that artists’ work.

I have chosen to exhibit with the excellent Alex Paik.

Join Facebook Event

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Signs and Systems at Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia
June 6-28, 2013
Opening reception: Friday, June 7, 5-7pm
Gross McCleaf Gallery
127 South 16th Street
Philadelphia PA 19102

With Alison Berry, Cora Cohen, Joanne Grune-Yanoff, Kellianne McCarthy, Sean McDonough, Deirdre Murphy, Dianne Pappas, Mira Schor, Carly Witmer, Pete Zebley

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ICE WATER FLYSWATTER at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia

I’m curating this exhibition, and I’m very excited about the lineup!
ICE WATER FLYSWATTER — Abstract painting on holiday in the Philadelphia summer
curated by Douglas Witmer
August 2 — September 1, 2013
Reception: Friday August 2, 6-10pm
Tiger Strikes Asteroid
319A North 11th Street, Suite 2H
Philadelphia PA

Featuring:
Alain Biltereyst (Belgium)
Mary Bucci McCoy (MA)
Donald Martiny (NC)
Cary Smith (CT)
Mark Wethli (ME)
Paige Williams (OH)
–with a special poem/drawing by Ian White Williams commissioned for the show

Join Facebook Event
(image above: Cary Smith, “Splat #25″)

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MORE UPCOMING SHOWS — details forthcoming
Correspondence, group exhibition at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn
Reason and Romance, 6B Gallery, Elingen, Belgium
Why Not?, International Biennale of Non-Objective Art, Pont de Claix, France



Studio News | Winter 2013

NEW YORK SOLO EXHIBITION EXTENDED THRU MARCH 8

If you’re in New York for the art fairs, please join me for the closing reception for my current show on
Friday March 8, 6-8pm

All Kinds of Ways to Your Garden
New Paintings by Douglas Witmer

Thru March 8, 2013
BLANK SPACE

511 West 25th Street, Suite 204
New York, NY
More exhibition views here–>

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NEW INTERVIEW ON STUDIO CRITICAL

I was honored to be invited to participate in Valerie Brennan’s Studio Critical interview project. The interview is available now online. I think this is a terrific resource, allowing contemporary painters from around the world to talk about their studios and painting practice.

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SURFACE AS SIGNIFIER | UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE GALLERY @ CRANE ARTS

Surface As Signifier exhibition view, with Robert Straight and Douglas Witmer

University of Delaware Art Gallery @ Crane Arts
1400 North American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

Thru March 16, 2013
Panel Discussion, Thursday, March 14, 7pm

Curated by Peg Curtin and Bruce Garrity, this is an excellent exhibition bringing together the work of Margery Amdur, Donna Czapiga, Nicole Donnelly, James Erikson, Jim Lee, Anne Seidman, Robert Straight, Leslie Wayne, and myself. The panel discussion on March 14 should be very engaging.

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE: “Surface as Signifier” seeks to explore trends in painting that reference romantic and reductivist sensibilities. Works are slick, transparent, thick, thin and heavily layered. Process and points of inspiration are revealed as well as concealed. Evidence of touch or lack of touch contributes to and shapes the content of the work. Collectively, the work limns a cerebral entrance to an alternative place that is realized through re-contextualized media, nature, subjective trajectories, literature and architectural fragments – ultimately providing a platform for understanding a new narrative.”

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EXHIBITION REVIEW OF “WINTER DOWN”

Quite likely the one and only time anyone will ever have to cross a swinging bridge to view my work! This ambitious curated white-box-within-a-white-box show was reviewed on The ArtBlog.

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NEW STUDIO! PARTY!
I am currently moving my studio to a brand new location here in my West Philadelphia neighborhood. Please join me and the other artists of The Cedar Works Studios to celebrate the inauguration of West Philadelphia’s newest artist community.
Saturday, April 13, 7pm–??? (The Dock Street beer will likely flow freely…the studios are directly behind the brewery…!!)



Studio News | Early 2013

NEW YORK SOLO EXHIBITION OPENS JANUARY 17

All Kinds of Ways to Your Garden
New Paintings by Douglas Witmer
January 17 – March 1, 2013
Reception: Thursday, January 17, 6-8pm
BLANK SPACE
511 West 25th Street, Suite 204
New York, NY

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE: In his second exhibition with the gallery, Witmer continues to refine an ongoing investigation of color and surface in abstract painting. Witmer’s canvases, with merely one or two delineated blocks of emphatic color positioned in relation to soft grey grounds, appear stunningly direct and simple upon first glance. But a sustained viewing of the work allows the energy of Witmer’s carefully considered dualities to manifest itself. Gesture emerges from the grey-stained grounds, which are made by cascading pigment onto a soaking wet surface. Seemingly hard edges color actually begin to fray where the artist has intentionally allowed paint to bleed just so in the taping process. The color blocks overlap subtle and not-so-subtle margins the artist creates near the outer edges of the canvases. On one hand the work evokes certainty and solidity, and perhaps stillness. But on the other hand every element is kept light, actively in play, and up for consideration. Nothing is totally settled. The artist has said: “enamored as I am of what I perceive to be utter simplicity and perfection in painting, when I have the opportunity for it in my practice, I become restless. At the edge of perfection, I stumble.”

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MORE NEWS

The Subjective Object at ParisCONCRET, in Paris, France, closed on December 22. Above is an installation view with the work of Louise Blyton (AU) on the left and a set of my work on paper to the right.


Philadelphia’s inaugural Art CSA project (which includes work from my “School Papers” series), is on view at Philadelphia’s City Hall through February 15. The city also purchased a share for its public collection.


I am very happy to announce that I have accepted an invitation to join the artist collective Tiger Strikes Asteroid. Founded in 2009, Tiger Strikes Asteroid has received national recognition for its artist-curated exhibition program and now has sister locations in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. I’m looking forward to becoming part of this community, exhibiting new personal projects, and curating future exhibitions. Stay tuned.

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BACK TO BACK GROUP EXHIBITIONS AT CRANE ARTS, PHILA

Winter Down
Amy Lincoln, Beth Livensperger, Mike Stifel, Becky Suss, Douglas Witmer
Curated by Ryan McCartney and Timothy Belknap
The Icebox at Crane Arts
1400 North American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

January 8 – February 10, 2013
Opening Reception Thursday, January 10th, 6-10pm

Winter Down, curated by Timothy Belknap and Ryan McCartney, is a salon style exhibition focusing on the work of five participating artists. Each artist will be exhibiting several works ranging from paintings, to object studies, and the mechanical reduction of a single action.
This exhibition explores the systematic notion of its parts becoming the whole- a spatial development by the indiscriminate hanging of both paintings and sculptural objects. The exhibition will be housed inside the Icebox at the Crane Arts building, within a 10’x10’x10’ antechamber. This intimate space will be connected to the entrance of the Icebox by a suspended bridge. The bridge, a psychological transition, functions as the space between the here and there: the departure and the arrival, a pathway to experience.

Surface As Signifier – second installment
University of Delaware Art Gallery @ Crane Arts
1400 North American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

February 14 – March 16, 2013
Reception Thursday, February 14, 6-8pm

Curated by Peg Curtin and Bruce Garrity and originally exhibited in October, 2012 at Camden County College (NJ), this curated curated exhibition features the work of Margery Amdur, Donna Czapiga, Nicole Donnelly, James Erikson, Anne Seidman, Robert Straight, Leslie Wayne, and Douglas Witmer.

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE: “Surface as Signifier” seeks to explore trends in painting that reference romantic and reductivist sensibilities. Works are slick, transparent, thick, thin and heavily layered. Process and points of inspiration are revealed as well as concealed. Evidence of touch or lack of touch contributes to and shapes the content of the work. Collectively, the work limns a cerebral entrance to an alternative place that is realized through re-contextualized media, nature, subjective trajectories, literature and architectural fragments – ultimately providing a platform for understanding a new narrative.”



Happy Holidays

Greetings from West Philadelphia.

I’d like to take a moment to thank you for following and supporting my work this past year. 2012 was a busy and successful year for me, including my involvement with Philadelphia’s first Art CSA and the debut of my work Europe. More info can can be found in the news section of my website.

At this moment the studio is full of new paintings for my next solo exhibition in New York, opening January 17 at BLANK SPACE in Chelsea. After the show opens, I will be moving my studio from the third floor of my home to a new larger space here in my West Philadelphia neighborhood. As always, there are more things in the works, too! Stay tuned for details.

Until then, I wish you and your loved ones happy holidays, and most importantly, peace and fulfillment in 2013.

Sincerely,
Douglas Witmer

441 South 43rd Street
Philadelphia PA 19104 USA
215.498.5754



Studio News | December 2012

OPENING DECEMBER 1 — TOMORROW! — IN PARIS


The Subjective Object
Works by Louise Blyton (AU), Roland Orépük (FR), Douglas Witmer (US)
December 1-22, 2012
Opening Reception, Saturday, December 1, 5pm
ParisCONCRET
5 rue des Immeubles Industriels
Paris France

2012 will go down as the year my work made its debut in Europe. Currently there is a “Fruitville” object on view in the second iteration of “Manic Episode 3″ at the headquarters of the SPD in Hamburg, Germany. Meanwhile, in Paris I have five recent works on paper in this nicely curated 3-person exhibition.
 
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THE ARTIST RELIEF PROJECT

I was honored to be asked to contribute work to The Artist Relief Project, an online exhibition benefiting artists who suffered significant losses as a result of Hurricane Sandy. I have four recent works on paper available for purchase. I will donate half of the sale price to help artists affected by the recent storm. The project is happening now through December 17.

From the Artist Relief Project website:

As has been widely reported, the superstorm damaged many studios and galleries in Chelsea and beyond, thereby destroying the artwork and livelihoods of many artists from around the world. While we cannot reverse the damage, we can form a global partnership to help these artists get back on their feet.

The participating artists have graciously pledged to donate 50% of their proceeds (after expenses) to New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)’s Emergency Relief Fund for Hurricane Sandy. We hope you will join our cause by purchasing artwork on this website before December 17th and by spreading the word via email, Facebook and Twitter (@ArtistRelief #artistreliefproject). If you would like to become an Artist Relief Project Partner by making a direct tax-deductible donation to NYFA, please click here.

Participating artists: Adam BATCHELOR, Terri BROOKS, Chris COSNOWSKI, Eric CATOR, Andrew CRANE, Brent HALLARD, J.T. KIRKLAND, Richard KOOYMAN, Holly MILLER, Ryan Sarah MURPHY, Melanie PARKE, Heidi POLLARD, Lauren PURJE, John SABRAW, Arielle SANDLER, Alex SCHUCHARD, Jessica SNOW, Pamela STAKER, Michael VOSS, Douglas WITMER
 
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UPCOMING SOLO EXHIBITION IN CHELSEA

All Kinds of Ways to Your Garden
New Paintings by Douglas Witmer
January 17 – March 1, 2013
Reception: Thursday, January 17, 6-8pm
BLANK SPACE
511 West 25th Street, Suite 204
New York, NY

It’s not too early to mark your calendars! This is my second solo exhibition of paintings with BLANK SPACE. I’m currently hard at work finishing the new group for exhibition. Hope to see you there.



Studio News | Autumn 2012

IT’S A JAM-PACKED AUTUMN, LEADING INTO A JAM-PACKED WINTER

I’m currently busy finishing work for CSA Art Philly, a joint project of the the art collectives Tiger Strikes Asteroid and Grizzly Grizzly.

Like a Community Supported Agriculture program, the Art CSA program supports a direct maker-to-buyer relationship between artists and collectors working and living in the Philadelphia region. Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture has become a popular way for consumers to buy seasonal food directly from local farms. With the same buy-local spirit in mind, Grizzly Grizzly and Tiger Strikes Asteroid’s Community Supported Art is a endeavor to support local art, artists, and collectors.

Since its inception by Springboard for the Arts in Minneapolis, MN (2010) this model has gained a lot of notoriety and has been replicated throughout the country. The goal of both Grizzly Grizzly and TSA is to cultivate an open, authentic, and deep connection between artists and collectors. This program seeks to create dialog through a series of events revolved around local, innovative artwork.

CSA Art Philly has produced this short video of me talking about the project:

Douglas Witmer from GrizzlyGrizzly on Vimeo.

 
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NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A MONOCHROME
An online project curated by Mariángeles Soto-Díaz for the University of Iowa Museum of Art
 

September 30, 2012 – January 31, 2013
neverunderestimateamonochrome.org

Meant to activate the poetic, political and performative registers of the monochrome, “Never Underestimate a Monochrome” (2012) is a conceptual project conceived and organized by Mariángeles Soto-Díaz in a collaborative partnership with the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Around thirty artists from different parts of the world interpreted instructions written by Soto-Díaz, and provided documentation of their monochrome performance for a digital archival space, bringing the textual, embodied and mediated aspects of the monochrome into dialogue.

I created two works on paper for this project, as well as my first-ever video. (Screengrab below…but you’ll need to click through to see it!

 
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SURFACE AS SIGNIFIER OPENS OCTOBER 10
 

Surface as Signifier
Curated by Peg Curtin and Bruce Garrity
October 10 – November 1, 2012
Camden County College
Marlin Gallery | Lincoln Hall
200 College Drive
Blackwood NJ, 08012
www.camdencc.edu

This curated exhibition features a group of Fruitville pieces along with work by some excellent artists: Margery Amdur, Donna Czapiga, Nicole Donnelly, James Erikson, Anne Seidman, Robert Straight, Leslie Wayne. I’m particularly excited about this show. James Erikson and Anne Seidman are artist friends, and I’ve long admired the work of Donna Czapiga, and especially Robert Straight. Please look these artists up. See you next week in New Jersey!
 
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MANIC EPISODE 3, HAMBURG
 

Above: Fruitville pieces alongside work by Louise Blyton (AU) and Dorothea Fischer (DE).
Photo by Michael Perlbach

 
Click to enlarge image Manic : Episode 3
September 16 – October 6, 2012
Kunstlerhaus Dosenfabrik
Hamburg, Germany

Although the show closes in a few days, it has been great to have been included in this international exhibition of reductive abstract art. More exhibition views, by German artist Michael Perlbach can be found on Facebook here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

UPCOMING

 
ILLATA / ILLATUM : processes and consequences of memory
December 15, 2012 – January 12, 2013
Soft Machine Gallery
Allentown PA
Featuring work by KT Butterfield, P Farrell, Janet Filomeno, Brian Goings, Gail Gregg, Stephen Maine, David Meyer, Margaret Neil, Lisa Pressman, Sam Rosenblatt, Rob Solomon, Altoon Sultan, Ilene Sunshine, Douglas Witmer, & Tamar Zinn
More details forthcoming.
 
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NEW YORK SOLO SHOW – JANUARY 2013
The studio is beyond full of new paintings in progress as I prepare for my second solo show with Blank Space Art in Chelsea, NYC. The show will consist of 10-15 brand new paintings. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime if you’re in New York, Blank Space currently has a few paintings in inventory.
Blank Space Art
511 West 25th Street Suite 204
New York NY 10001
TEL: (212) 924 2025
 
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NEW STUDIO IN WEST PHILADELPHIA
As soon as the New York show is installed, I will be moving my studio to a new and considerably larger space in the currently-under-construction Cedar Works, about 10 blocks from my home in West Philadelphia. This is going to be a terrific step! And there will be a party! Stay tuned.

 
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OTHER NEWS
 
I continue to curate occasional exhibitions. My most recent, Optic Fiber, featuring the work of Lindsay Chandler and Ana B. Hernandez for the University City Arts League, was recently reviewed on The Artblog here.
 
Earlier this spring, Libby Rosof, co-founder and editor of The Artblog, did a lengthy interview with me.
 
A selection of my School Papers continue to be available for viewing and purchase through MINUS SPACE in Brooklyn NY.



Community Supported Art Philadelphia

School Papers in progress

School Papers in progress in the studio. Photo by Jaime Alvarez

ON SALE TODAY: your chance at one of 50 inaugural shares in the Community Supported Art Philadelphia program. Purchasing a share for $450 gets you nine artworks, including a unique “School Papers” original piece. (It’s the equivalent of buying one of my “School Papers” works at retail, and getting 8 more artworks on top!) Buy your share here.

Press release follows…

Philadelphia, PA– Grizzly Grizzly and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (TSA) are pleased to release pre-sale details of our inaugural Community Supported Art program. The shares – of which only fifty are for sale to the public – are expected to go quickly upon the opening of the season on Thursday, July 19th at 10 a.m. At the close of this release, you will find a link to a full press packet with detailed descriptions of each proposed project and bio for each of the nine participating artists.

Selected for their quality of work and diverse modes of creating, each of the nine local artists brings something distinctly different to the project. All are committed to cultivating contemporary art and community in Philadelphia. The work ranges from jewelry to printmaking to painting to photography to sculpture to site-specific installation to sound art. The artists are: Sarah Kate Burgess, Anda Dubinkis, Jacob Feige, Sarah Gamble, Brian Giniewski, Ivanco Talevski, Brent Wahl, Douglas Witmer, andLinda Yun.

The first pick-up event will feature three varied artworks, setting the tone for the entire share. Jacob Feige will make 50 limited edition custom-pressed vinyl records, each with individually printed and painted covers; Douglas Witmer will paint abstract color fields on found school papers; and Brent Wahl will create a suite of new photographs based on illusion and depth perception strategies.

The second pick-up event will include three artists who are all making three-dimensional works. Sarah Kate Burgess will handcraft delicate paper rings that come with a do-it-yourself template for shareholders to make and adapt as their own; Brian Giniewski will make a series of works on paper with a ceramic ‘paperweight’ on top; and Linda Yun’s conceptual work will be site specific and installed in collectors’ homes after individual consultation.

The third and final pick-up event presents three artists that all use printmaking as a starting point. Anda Dubinskis will create realistically depicted insects in patterned, flat foliage in her one-of-a-kind mixed media prints; Sarah Gamble will print and then hand-paint fifty completely unique works; and Ivanco Talevski will be print a series of five etchings, richly black-on-white, that reflect his mastery of the medium and the narrative of his cultural heritage. Anda and Ivanco will co-lead with the master printers of Second State Press for a printmaking demonstration during the pick-up event.

In a further commitment to community, the artists have agreed to complete 59 actual works – nine of which they will share among themselves. As CSA Artist Anda Dubinskis reflects, “I think that most of the artists involved in this project are embracing a more adventurous and generous position- embellishing or redacting the original, leading to an edition that evolves from the point of departure to an exploration of possibilities.”

To download the full press packet with detailed descriptions of each proposed project and bio for each of the nine participating artists click here.

This local project is modeled on the successful CSA program in Minneapolis/St. Paul–created by mnartists.org and Springboard for the Arts and supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It is one of two inaugural CSA programs in Philadelphia being facilitated by the City of Philadelphia Office of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy. For more information about the other CSA program, by the Philadelphia Folklore Project, go to http://folkloreproject.org/programs/csa.php.

Email list disclaimer: I send several studio updates annually. It is not my wish to spam you. The information contained in the emails will only relate to my work, or exhibitions, projects, and publications with which I am personally involved. Your email is not be shared, or visible to others who receive my studio updates. Please use the links below to personally control your subscription status or information.


News | Summer 2012

DGLS Studio

Greetings from HOT and HUMID Philadelphia!

Here’s the news, and a little bit of review, from the goings-on in my studio.

Upcoming NYC Solo Show
The studio is beyond full of new paintings in progress as I prepare for my second solo show with Blank Space Art in Chelsea, NYC. The show will consist of 10-15 brand new paintings. The challenge (and the thrill/fascination/whatever-you-want-to-call-it) in the studio these days are finding fresh approaches to the work within my ongoing interests. That’s happening. I’m excited. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime if you’re in New York, Blank Space currently has a few paintings in inventory.
Blank Space Art
511 West 25th Street Suite 204
New York NY 10001
TEL: (212) 924 2025

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Art CSA Philly
Philadelphia’s Inaugural Art CSA
I’m thrilled to have been invited to be one of 9 Philadelphia artists for the inaugural Art CSA Philly project, a joint project of the the art collectives Tiger Strikes Asteroid and Grizzly Grizzly.

Like a Community Supported Agriculture program, the Philly Art CSA program supports a direct maker-to-buyer relationship between artists and collectors working and living in the Philadelphia region. Featuring a diverse range of contemporary art from nine local artists, this program offers curated “shares” of innovative and affordable work to supporters in a series of three pick-up events throughout the 2012–13 season.

I am being commissioned to produce 50 new original “School Papers” drawings for this project.

More info: http://www.csartphilly.com/

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Click to enlarge image
Group Exhibition in Hamburg, Germany
Several “Fruitville” objects head out to Europe later this week for inclusion in “Manic Episode 3,” a group exhibition of international abstract/concrete artists who interact and support each other on Facebook. It will be fun to have my work in the company of some real-life and some virtual friends.

Manic : Episode 3
September 16 – October 6, 2012
Kunstlerhaus Dosenfabrik
Hamburg, Germany

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StudioView
Artblog Interview
Earlier this spring, Libby Rosof, co-founder and editor of The Artblog, did a lengthy interview with me at my cafe. The discussion went pretty far and wide (I talk A LOT). She centered in on some of the key themes that interested her. I think the piece reads almost like a transcription…Libby frantically writing to keep up with my speaking.

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West Philly Abstraction
West Philly Abstraction
I curated a small group exhibition this past March for the University City Arts League, a community arts center in my neighborhood. The show’s premise was simply to bring together some of the abstract artists living and working in the neighborhood. It exhibited work by some noted Philadelphia artists, and also served as an “introduction to the scene” for some lesser-known artists. It turned out to be a terrific experience for all. And the show was favorably reviewed in Philadelphia’s City Paper, and on The Artblog.

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Crysta Days
Crystal Days with Timothy Buckwalter and Michael Macfeat
My pop-up exhibition at a now-past iteration of Sugar with Bay-area artist Timothy Buckwalter and Philly artist Michael Macfeat drew a large turnout. It was a really great event. The show was reviewed by artist and critic James Rosenthal here.

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Email list disclaimer: I send several studio updates annually. It is not my wish to spam you. The information contained in the emails will only relate to my work, or exhibitions, projects, and publications with which I am personally involved. Your email is not be shared, or visible to others who receive my studio updates. Please use the links below to personally control your subscription status or information.


Crystal Days pop-up show, West Philly Abstraction


Please join me this coming Saturday evening for a pop-up exhibition with California-based artist Timothy Buckwalter. There will be good food and live music happening!

Crystal Days–recent work by Douglas Witmer & Timothy Buckwalter with Michael Macfeat
March 3-31, 2012
Sugar
21 West Willowgrove Ave map–>
Reception Saturday March 3 5-7pm

What’s a “pop-up exhibition?” In this case it’s a show in an historic former garage space that Tim and I were offered with just a few weeks notice. We decided to jump at the chance.

What’s the venue “Sugar?” It’s a new art/design boutique in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

What’s my connection to Timothy? Well, we both grew up in Lancaster County, PA, but we didn’t know each other until a few years ago. Since then we did discover that Timothy’s father once worked for my family’s greenhouse business. If you don’t already know Timothy Buckwalter’s work, please head over to his site and check it out.

What is the title “Crystal Days” all about? It’s a terrific Echo and the Bunnymen song from their classic 1984 album “Ocean Rain.”

West Philly Abstraction
March 9-30, 2012
University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce Street, Philadelphia
Reception, Friday, March 9,6-8pm

West Philly Abstraction is a show I’m super excited about…mainly because I organized it. Here’s my press release blurb about it:

West Philadelphia has long been been a favorite neighborhood for the independent and creative set, a hotbed for activists, anarchists, and D.I.Y. rockers alike rubbing shoulders with architects and Ivy League profs. In the midst of it all live some of Philadelphia’s most noted abstract artists. These are artists who bring fresh perspectives to the now-venerable tradition. Not unified by any particular style, West Philly Abstraction presents eight artists–artists whose works have been exhibited internationally and are part of major museum collections–who make West Philly their home.

With: Marina Borker, Robert Goodman, Todd Keyser, Paul King, Alice Oh, Caroline Letham Santa, and Tremain Smith.



Happy New Year

Greetings from West Philadelphia!

I’d like to take a moment to thank you for following and supporting my work this past year. 2011 was a busy and successful year for me, with many firsts including my first solo museum show, catalog publication, and museum acquisition. More info about all of these can be found in the news section of my website.

Just now my studio is full of new paintings in the early stages of development as I prepare for my next solo show in New York, slated for early 2013. As always, there are some other things in the works, too! Stay tuned for more details.

Until then, I wish you and your loved ones peace and fulfillment in 2012.

Sincerely,
Douglas Witmer

DGLS Studio
441 South 43rd Street
Philadelphia PA 19104 USA
215.498.5754