Douglas Witmer makes spare abstract paintings that are on view through March 12 at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (TSA), where he is a member. Douglas also composes music (he nearly finished a music major in college) and on Friday, March 10, at 7PM, he will be playing his composition, “Dark Water,” at TSA. The music is a response and accompaniment to the paintings. As an artist who, like many artists, had a visceral reaction to the election results, Witmer found that his time in the studio making art helped him come out of his funk. As he worked he conceived of an activist resistance project, Neighbor: Who, that involved 200 pieces of hand-painted art, all fitting together as pieces of a larger, quilt-like whole. He offered to give away the paintings to people who wanted to participate in the global “mail art” project. The giveaway was cathartic for Witmer and for the recipients it helped reinforce a global community of art lovers connected with this deeply community-focused artist. By the way, Douglas is the co-founder of the Green Line Cafes, which have been a staple of Philadelphia’s cafe scene since 2003. In the interview, Douglas announces he and his Green Line business partner bought a building in West Philadelphia at 42nd and Lancaster Ave., which they will rehab and open as artist studio space (10-15 studios) in the near future. Very exciting news! The interview took place on March 2, 2017 and the podcast is 33 minutes long.
Thank you to The Galleries at Moore TGMR radio project for making this podcast possible, and especially to Matt Kalasky for inviting Artblog to participate in the Moore radio project. You can also listen to the interview with Douglas Witmer at the TGMR site.
