Timothy McDowell

I was born in Texas, 1953. I received my MFA degree from the University of Arizona in 1981. Since then I have been a professor of printmaking and drawing at Connecticut College in New London, residing on the Connecticut shoreline where I maintain a studio and residence.

Over the years, my art has concentrated on several mediums. The last twenty years my concentration has primarily been in encaustic medium with work also being done in oils, distemper, intaglio etching and cyanotype; producing paintings, prints and works on paper. 

Ultimately art making involves us in an ever-expanding investigation of topics, subjects, philosophies, sciences and numerous other paths of influence and especially other art. Since all things are in some way connected and interdependent, no real boundary exists to prohibit venturing from one category into another, especially if a connection across a boundary is revealed in the quest. Once an element is revealed to further the inquiry or expand the visual language, that element is appropriated. The whole, with its range and variety of expression, hopefully starts to define the message by taking a polyphonic perspective on the same topic. Defying my nature or tendency of trial and exploration on creating images would be a contradiction. My obligation is to keep exploring boundaries that somehow encircle the subject and thereby define it. In the past I was particularly interested in reproducing elegiac natural settings as a critique to reckless exploitation of resources. More recently, however, I have shifted my attention to emblematic objects, which, decontextualized from their familiar settings, lead viewers to imagine new worlds. In this new direction, my creative process is often initiated by a reaction to an external stimulus; then, it is carried out as a dialogue with various processes, where mistakes and accidents can occur, improving on the assumed impeccability of one’s prior concept. My work now has no boundaries for practice or process.

My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally with representation here in the U.S. and Canada. 

Collections include:

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

Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ

The William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, CT

Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT

Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Hartford, CT

Southern Connecticut State University

Sol LeWitt Collection, Chester, CT

Benziger Family Winery Collection, Sonoma, CA

Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA

Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX 

You are welcome to look through the portfolios. You can find my contact information on the opening page of this site. My resumé is listed below.

Education: B.F.A. Degree, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas

M.F.A. Degree, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Employment: since 1981, Lucretia Allyn Professor of Studio Art, Connecticut College, New London, CT.

Web sites: http://www.timothymcdowell.format.com

https://www.marciawoodgallery.com/artists/58-timothy-mcdowell/works/9967-timothy-mcdowell-sea-floor-vanity-2020/

E-mail:tjmcdowell@mac.com; tjmcd@conncoll.edu

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024

Timothy McDowell “Recent Paintings and Prints” Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT.

2022

Timothy McDowell “Panel Paintings: Geometries and Allegories," Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA.Selected as one of the ten best exhibitions of 2022 by the Atlanta Art Critics .

2021

Stone Soup, Gallery Exhibition, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA.

2019

In Our Time, Large Scale Cyanotypes, Miami University, Heistand Galleries, Athens, Ohio

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 Elegant 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

2004

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

1999

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

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

2024

The Legacy of Making: 25 American Artists Who Draw from Their Italian Culture, Curated by

Joanne Mattera and Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute, New York City.

2021

Fire and Ice, Some Say the World Will End in Fire, Some Say Ice, Group Exhibition of 15 artists

in response to global capitalism and diminishing resources, Cummings Arts Center, Connecticut

College, New London, CT

2017

Publish or Perish, Group Exhibition of International Printmakers, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2015

Site 109, Marcia Wood Gallery Presents Three: Javens Loehle, McDowell, 109 Norfolk, NY, NY

2015

Print Spiral: Tia Blassingame, Nancy Fries, Timothy McDowell and Young Nam, Akus Gallery,

Eastern Connecticut State University, Storrs, CT

Organic to Geometric- Investigations in Structure and Surface, Walter J. Manninen Center for the

Arts, Endicott College, Beverly, MA

Transmissions: New Works by Connecticut College Art Department Faculty, Lyman Allyn Museum,

New London, CT

Japan-USA Exchange, Works on Paper 2015 curated by Yasuyuki Uzawa, Kanazawa, Japan

2014

Heated Exchange- Contemporary Encaustics, curated by Rea Gower, Traveling Group Exhibition

with multiple venues, Sarasota Arts Center, Sarasota, Fl

Towards a New Reality, Two Person Exhibition with Greg Bailey, Cummings Arts Center,

Connecticut College, New London, CT

3rd Annual Connecticut Printmakers Invitational Exhibition, Akus Gallery, Eastern Connecticut

State University, Willimantic, CT

2012

Primordial Soup Print Portfolio, Group Print Exhibition, Terri Dilling, Curator, Funded by the Center

for Chemical Evolution and NASA, exhibited at the Southern Print Council Annual Conference

in NewOrleans, LA and the Spruill Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2011

Living in the Woods, A History of Nature, Group Exhibition with Robert McCauley, Tom Judd and Bob

Nugent, curated by Bob Nugent for Fresh Paint Art Advisors, Los Angeles, CA

2010

Pull, Print Portfolio Exhibition of editions by Kim Ano, Kate Javins, Joanne

Mattera, Timothy McDowell, Don Pollock and Kathryn Taylor, Marcia Wood GalleryGalleryAtlanta, GA

Sole Mates, Group Museum Exhibition, curated by Joseph Traugott, Sante Fe Museum of Art,

Santa Fe, New Mexico

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

Back to The Garden, Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, NY

This Just In, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta GA

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

2007

Luxe, Calme et Volupte, Group Exhibition, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2007

Waxing Eloquent, Group Exhibition, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, St. John's Newfoundland

2006

The Surface, Hayes-George Gallery, Charlotte, NC

2006

The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustics, Traveling Group Exhibition, 1st venue: Vanderbilt University

Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN

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

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,

Storres, 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

A Thought Intercepted, a National Survey of Drawings, California Museum of Art, Luther Burbank

Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA

1997

Small, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1996

5th Cuenca Biennal of Painting, Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador.

USA Curator/Commissioner: David Rubin, Phoenix Art Museum, funding provided by the U.S.I.A.

Looking Good, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Elusive Nature, Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ

Gallery Affiliations

Marcia Wood Gallery

Atlanta, GA

Collections, Commissions 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

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT

Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ

Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT

The William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, 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, NY, NY

Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Orlando, FL

Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV

The Muse Hotel, NY, NY

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, San Francisco, CA

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA

Professional Highlights

2023 Recipient of the Leticia Allyn Endowed Professorship

2014 Recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Artist Grant for Painting

1996 Represented U.S.A. at the 5th Cuenca Biennial of Painting, Quito and Guayaquil,

Ecuador. USA Commissioner/Curator: David Rubin, Phoenix Museum of Art,

funding by USIA

Visiting Artist Appointments

2010 Visiting Artist Encaustic Painting- Northwest Pacific College of Art, Portland, OR

2012 Visiting Artist Encaustic Painting- Peter’s Valley School of Craft, Delaware, NJ

2014 Juror, Miami University Young Painters Competition, awarding $10,000 for the William and

Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award

2013 Juror, New England Contemporary Triennial Exhibition, University of Maine Museum of Art,

Bangor Maine

2012 Visiting Artist Intaglio Printmaking- Colby College, Waterville, ME

2010 Rhode Island School of Design, visiting printmaker, one semester, Providence, RI

2005 Visiting Artist, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Quartz Mountain Residency, Quartz Mountain, Oklahoma

2001 Visiting Artist Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy

Articles, Books 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

Atlanta Arts, Review: Timothy McDowell’s compelling show gives perspective to Covid tribulations

Donna Mintz,November 22, 2021

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

Authentic Visual Voices: Contemporary Paper & Encaustic, by Catherine Nash, 2013,

Nash-Renfro Publications, Tucson , AZ

Fine Art: Selected “Featured Artist," Creative Quarterly, January issue, 2021

Italianità Contemporary Art Inspired by the Italian Immigrant Experience, by Joanne Mattera 2024

WFA Press New York City

Currently my gallery representation is with:

- Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta GA.