Timothy McDowell

My artwork, by considering as many of the infinite aspects of nature as I can, takes claim to the micro and the macro, the metaphysical and the phenomenal in defining a sense of place that hopefully connects to the viewer's memory of place.

I use a chaotic arrangement of form and space to organize these elements into the picture plane. Hopefully, this activates the viewer's participation toward understanding the existence of a spatial and physical relationship between all the elements in the painting, as well as, between all things in nature.

In this body of work I attempt to define my understanding of the current environment through observation and depiction. The subjects are elemental: earth, water, fire and air. They belong to the canonical list of universal components. These elements have historical relevance in both literature and art as symbols of Nature's force. Their balance or imbalance is the determining factor for the preservation of life or its destruction. These elements may elicit either fear or awe, according to the viewers' experience.

These works originate from an investigation of the urgency stirred by the present natural imbalance. They poetically encapsulate my anxieties, fears and hopes of being in this world. My initial reaction to the current state is later transformed into denunciation of misused resources and the hope for restoring them.

My response to pressing environmental issues informs my painting method. Unlike traditional work that entails a slow preparation of ground and substrate, my painting expresses urgency through direct action on raw linen with paint and hot wax. This strategy, however, is not to be interpreted as mere spontaneous gesture. The immediacy is in fact accompanied by careful re-evaluation of the issue that translates into the complexity of positive brush strokes and negative open forms of linen: the symbols of my evolving language.

Timothy McDowell exhibits across the United States and internationally in galleries, museums and biennials, including the Nicolaysen Museum of Art, Casper, WY, The Museum of Modern Art of Jacksonville, FL, the Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ, the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, the 5th Cuenca Biennial of Painting, Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea (Florence, Italy). His work is in numerous private, corporate and museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art Prints and Drawings Collection, NY. Timothy McDowell resides in Noank, Connecticut, and has been a professor at Connecticut College since 1981.

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Exhibitions & Collections
 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2012
Notes on a Natural Quandary, Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

2010
Kingdom Come, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2009
Metaphysics of Landscape, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, Maine
The Elegent Puzzle: New Works on the Theme of Nature, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada

2008
Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007
Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

2006
The Nature of Elegy, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL
Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2005
Waxed Paper, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sorting Stratum, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Struck Planes and Bounded Spaces, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho

2004
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada

2003
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Persistence of Botany, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

2002
Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venezia, Italy
Residuum, 2nd in a series of three exhibits curated by Victoria Jutras Kniering, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT

2000
George Hemphill Fine Arts Washington, D.C.
Not Beauty As Beauty, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1998
Liquid/Solid: New Works, Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, OR

Towards Arcadia, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1996
Fragments, Timothy McDowell, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1994
Large Works on Paper, Concourse Gallery, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

1992
Wildcat Exhibition, Prints and Paintings, Muranushi/Lederman Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2009
Second Nature, Group Exhibition with Lauren Gohara, Amy Talluto, Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, NY

2008
This Is My Nature, with Gabe Brown, Sandy Litchfield, Jackie Tileston and Laura Sharp Wilson, curated by Lisa Hatchadoorian, Nicolaysen Museum of Art, Casper, WY
The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustics, Traveling Group Exhibition, 2nd venue: UTSA Galleries, the University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustics, Traveling Group Exhibition, 3rd venue: McKinney Avenue Contemporary Galleries, in conjunction with CAA annual meeting in Dallas, TX
Back to The Garden, Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, NY

2008
This Just In, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta GA

2007
Luxe, Calme et Volupte, Group Exhibition, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Waxing Eloquent, Group Exhibition, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, St. John's Newfoundland

2006
The Surface, Hayes-George Gallery, Charlotte, NC
The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustics, Traveling Group Exhibition, 1st venue: Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN

2005
Timothy McDowell, New Paintings, with Christine Hagedorn, New Sculptures, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI

2005
Visiting Artist, Oklahoma Commission on the Arts, Quartz Mountain Residency
Sunscreen, Summer 2005, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

2004
The Gallery at F&M Hand Made Paints, Kingston, NY
Retrospective/Prospective, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, TN

2003
Encaustic Now, 2nd Biennial Group Exhibition, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Compassionate Garden, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Waxing Rhapsodic, Timothy McDowell, Kim Cridler, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
New Faces, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI

2002
Enkaustikos, Wax As A Contemporary Medium, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Works on Paper, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta,GA
Lush Life, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Hot Wax, curated by Joanne Mattera, Cummings Arts Center, Connecticut College, New London, CT

2001
Neobotanica, George Kinghorn, curator, Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, Jacksonville, FL

2001
Underfoot, Traveling Group Exhibition, funded and sponsored by the American Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Italianate, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Encaustic Now, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea, Fortessa del Basso, Firenze, Italy

2000
Different Worlds of Printmaking, The Jorgensen Auditorium Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Holland Tunnel 1999, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

1999
Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions and Gifts, William Benton Museum of Art, The University of Connecticut, Storres CT
Benziger Winery Collection Exhibition, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
Sleight of Hand, Exhibition of Woodcuts, Varick Street Gallery, New York, NY.
Sleight of Hand, Exhibition of Woodcuts, Dutch Tide Project, Utrecht, Netherlands

1998
485.73482 Cycles Per/Sec, Mary Jones and Timothy McDowell, 76 Varick, New York, NY
Realigned/Recharged, Holly Hughes, Pam Longobardi, Timothy McDowell, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Tribute, 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Joseph Gross Gallery, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

1997
Printmaking: Imagery and Process, John Slade Ely House Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Small, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1997
A Thought Intercepted, a National Survey of Drawings, California Museum of Art, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA
Looking Good, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Elusive Nature, Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ

1996
5th Cuenca Bienal of Painting, Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. USA Curator/Commissioner: David Rubin, Phoenix Art Museum, funding provided by the U.S.I.A.
The Irene Leache Memorial Exhibition, The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA

1996
Range and Effect, An Exhibition of Five Contemporary Painters, Wake Forest University Art Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC
Natural Selection, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
February Invitational, Fotouhi Cramer Gallery, New York, NY
Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1995
U. S. A. Within Limits, Galeria Millan, Sao Paulo, Brazil
New Views, Group Exhibition, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1994
Art Hotel, Curated Exhibition by Muranushi/Lederman, Amsterdam,
Netherlands

1993
Exhibition of Works on Paper, Juried Exhibition, The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

1992
Resonances, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT

1991
1.5 Million Exhibition, Muranushi/Lederman Guerrilla Space, New York, NY
The Wall Project, The Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Visiting Faculty Prints Exhibition, Benson Hall Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

1990
Artist’s Prints, a Non-collaborative Process, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Hartford, CT
Variations on Theme, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT

1989
The Boston Printmakers 41st North American Print Exhibition, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
Still Life Now, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
The Connecticut Vision Exhibition, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT

Collections and Public Installations
 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Prints and Drawings Collection, New York, NY
The University of Iowa Art Museum, Iowa City, Iowa
The New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Lymann Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT
The William Benton Museum of Art, Storres, CT
Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Hartford, CT
Southern Connecticut State University
ABN-AMRO Securities, New York, NY
Aetna Life Insurance Corporation, Hartford, CT
Anderson Consulting, Palo Alto, CA
Bank of America
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
J.P. Morgan, New York, NY
Dow Jones, New York, NY
Sol LeWitt collection, Chester, CT
Benziger Family Winery Collection, Sonoma, CA
Connecticut Print Competition Collection, Old Lyme, CT
A.G. Rosen collection, New York, NY
Dan Leach collection, Tucson AZ
The Biltmore Bank of Arizona Collection of Contemporary Art, Phoenix, AZ
Children’s Memorial Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Nordstroms, Seattle, WA
Valley National Bank, Tucson, AZ
Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong
Ritz Carlton Hotel
Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV
The Muse Hotel, NY, NY
Mandarin Oriental Hotel, San Francisco, CA
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA

Articles and Reviews

Communication Arts, Volume 32, Number 2, May/June 1990, article by Sally Lehrman, p. 83

The Hartford Courant, Sunday, June 14, 1991, review by Jude Schwendenwien, p. 24

New York Times, Sunday, March 8,1992, review by William Zimmer, p. 22CN

Folha De Sao Paulo, Sexta-Feira, February 10, 1995, André Milan exibe miniaturas americanos,

review by Katia Canton, p. 1, Arts

The Hartford Courant, Wednesday, December 6, 1995, review by Deborah Hornblow, p. 11

Winston-Salem Journal, Sunday, March 3, 1996, review by Tom Patterson, p. E4

New Haven Register, Sunday, November 2, 1997, “Ely House printmaking show celebrates

differences”, by Judy Birke, p.G-2

Hoy de Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, February 19, 1997, “Naturaleza Esquiva” en Quito,

Muestra Estadounidense de la Bienal de Cuenca se inaugura manana, p. 5B

Arts and Antiques Magazine, January 1998, review by Andrew Young, p.30

The Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 12, 2001, Waxing Eloquent review by Catherine Fox,

pQ8 Visual Arts

The Times Union, Jacksonville, Florida, Friday, November 9, 2001, review of Neobotanica, Flora by

Four Contemporary Artists at Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art by Ivette M. Lee, p15 Arts

Creative Loafing, Atlanta, Georgia, 12 December 2002, Wax and Wane, review of solo exhibition at

Marcia Wood Gallery by Felicia Feaster

The Art of Encaustic Painting by Joanne Mattera, 2001 Watson Guptil Publications, New York, NY

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta GA, May 8, 2005, p.13, Visual Arts review by Jerry

Cullum of solo exhibition at Marcia Wood Gallery.

Imagery Art for Wine by Bob Nugent with Donald Kusbit, 2006 Wine Appreciation Guild Publishers,

San Francisco, CA

The New York Times, Friday, June 8, 2007, review by D. Dominick Lombardi of “Unbound:

Selected Artists at the Gallery of R&F, 506 Broadway, Kingston, NY

The Brooklyn Rail, July, 2008, review of Back to the Garden, at Metaphor Contemporary, by James

Kalm, Brooklyn Dispatche: Cool Island and Garden of Chill.

Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art With Wax, by Lissa Rankin, 2010 by

Watson Guptil, New York, NY

Brooklyn Paint Second Nature, February 4, 2009, review by James Kalm video on YouTube

The Huffington Post, May 24, 2011, review by Peter Frank of group exhibition Living in The Woods,

a History of Nature. Fresh Paint, Culver City, Ca

Encaustics by Ashley Rooney, forward by Kim Bernard, Schiffer Publishers, PA.