SUPPORT THIS PROJECT BY DOWNLOADING THE MUSIC AND ART AT THE LINK ABOVE ($20)
On February 26, 2020 I began to make and present the painting/music suite "Forty, For You.” The idea was designed as an opportunity to give someone a contemplative experience within the endless/mindless Instagram scroll. Each day for 40 days I created and released an image accompanied by an original ambient music composition.
Shortly after the project began it took on an unforeseen significance, unfolding against the backdrop of the global coronavirus pandemic. The 40-day nature of the work corresponded to the idea of quarantine, with hundreds of millions of people sheltering at home. I received many responses from people telling me the color and music experience was something they looked forward to each day. As I look back on that forty day period of making the paintings, composing and performing music, I recognize it was definitely sustaining me as well.
Though the project was introduced virtually, I also intended for it to work as an in-person experience.
The series made its physical debut earlier this year in an intimate niche gallery as part of my exhibition "Douglas Witmer -- Call & Response" which recently closed at the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart IN.
Now I'm very pleased to make the series available for in-person viewing in Philadelphia. Please join me to experience "Forty, For You" in a beautifully day-lit room at a location just down the street from my West Philadelphia studio. RSVP is not required, but it is helpful info for me.
FORTY FOR YOU, Philadelphia pop-up exhibition
May 20-21, 1-5 pm
Studio 303
4111 Lancaster Avenue Philadelphia