Over the course of the past two decades, Douglas Witmer has steadily pursued a personal inquiry into the materiality of the painted object, refining his processes to a set of consciously chosen, direct and economical actions.

In his recent work, Witmer applies the paint in watercolor-thin layers. From start to finish on a painting, his interactions with the surface are completely additive. Sometimes a wash is cascaded down the entire face of the painting. Other times Witmer establishes structure with flat housepainters’ brushes. And still other times he creates marks in gestural strokes or via incidental means, such as touching one wet painting against another. The highly fluid nature of this painting process sets up challenging dynamics of control and release. And Witmer coaxes a wide range of emotional results from his basic approaches. Even as his paintings are quite particular, Witmer desires to offer his viewer an open invitation into their own very personal experience of seeing and feeling.

The exhibition will remain on display through January 9, 2021.