My work is a direct expression of my innate curiosity. I learned to see through an abstract lens while studying physics and math, and so it was a natural progression for me to express my views of the world abstractly. When painting, I use non-regular geometries and the interplay of colors, shapes and lines to map my experiences onto the two dimensional plane to elicit movement and emotion.
I often construct interactive projects and installations using material directly sourced from people and communities with whom I come in contact. This can be in the form of a questionnaire hand bound into a book, submissions on my website used to engrave glass globes, or video statements about women presidents. Sometimes I find objects that express my views better than words and so they become a three dimensional painting such as a mural made from glass test tubes. I am forever reaching into new mediums whether it be book binding, glass globes and test tubes, writing IR video games or weaving tapestries. But even as my curiosity leads me in new directions painting remains the core of my studio practice.
Artist Biography
Denise Philipbar is a painter and installation artist who blends the power of nature with her understanding of science and technology. Working with topics such as the panopticon as metaphor or how technology and nature collide, her installations ask viewers to question how they interact with their own experiences in our current technological landscape. Her paintings explore the formal aspects in the two dimensional plane through abstraction and process disregarding any direct references to subject matter.
Philipbar learned to paint at the Art Students League of Denver after completing a bachelors and a masters in Mathematics from the University of Colorado. She holds an MFA in Painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
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Education
2012 University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA MFA, Painting
1996 University of Colorado, Boulder, CO MA, Mathematics
1993 University of Colorado, Denver, CO BS, Mathematics, Magna Cum Laude
Additional Course Work:
2018 The Ultimate Guide to Game Development with Unity, Udemy
2017 Forearms of Steel, Advanced Screen Printing Techniques, Second State Press, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Quick and Dirty Screen Printing, Second State Press, Philadelphia, PA
Collograph, Printing with Texture, Second State Press, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Etching and Intaglio Techniques, Discover Graphics Atelier, Alexandria, VA
2014 Printmaking Projects and Techniques, Discover Graphics Atelier, Alexandria, VA
2013 Jumpstart to Printmaking, Discover Graphics Atelier, Alexandria, VA
Awarda & Honors
Residencies
2014 Contemporary Artist Center at Woodside, Troy, NY, USA
Old Furnace Artist Residency, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
2013 Mecklenburg Inspiriert, International Artist Residency, Kühlungsborn, Germany
Bibliography
2014 Robinson, E. Brady "Low-Residency MFA Programs," Professional Artists’ Magazine, August/September 2014
Ostsee Zeitung, Zehn Kuenstler aus fuenf Nationen stellen im Rahmen von “Mecklenburg Inspiriert” in der Kunsthalle aus
2011 “West Collection: 6:6; Six Concurrent West Collection Exhibitions, Six Curatorial Teams From University of the Arts,” University of the Arts, August, 2011
2010 Bedell Natalie "FIRSTfriday of F.C.’s New ArtALot, ‘Cruise-In’ Event Debuts Friday" Falls Church News Press, Falls Church, VA, May 5, 2010
Professional Experience
2013 Visiting Critic, MFA-Studio Arts Program, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2010 - 2012 Instructor, Painting and Drawing, Falls Church Arts Foundation, Falls Church, VA
2002 - present Private Instructor, Painting and Drawing
1999 - 2000 Instructor, Beginning Throwing on the Wheel, Roundtree Art Center, Denver, CO
Exhibitions
Solo
2015 Divided Dimensions, Oakview National Bank, Marshal, VA
2014 Fragmented Reality, Blick Art Materials, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Conscious Evolution, Fisher Gallery at the Schlesinger Center, Alexandria, VA
2012 deNatured, Gallery 224 and Rosenwald Wolfe Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Group
2019 Hatch, InLiquid at Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
Devon Design Center, Devon, PA
2018 Into the Light, Rail Park Benefit, Bridget Meyer Gallery and Arts and Crafts Holdings, Philadelphia, PA
I‘m at A Loss, Curtis Building, Philadelphia, PA
Interact/Integrate, VisArts, Rockville, MD
2017 InLiquid Benefit, Crane Arts Bldg., Philadelphia, PA
Local Engagement, Awbury Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
Art for the Cash Poor, InLiquid, Crane Arts Bldg., Philadelphia, PA
2016 140 years of Making It, Hamilton Hall Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
TYPECAST, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC
2015 Featured Artist for November, Broadway Gallery, Alexandria, VA
Featured Artist for October, Broadway Gallery, Great Falls, VA
Emerging Artists Exhibition, The Drawing Room Gallery, Cos Cob, CT
2014 Within the Foreground Invitational, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Making it, Hamilton and Arronson Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
Welcome to Wonderland, artdc Gallery, Hyattsville, MD
2013 Neuro-Diversity Project, Studio 4, Old Town, Alexandria, VA
Equality: A Show of Pride 2013 (Benefiting Fairfax Pride, Studio 4, Old Town, Alexandria, VA
Studio 4 Artists, Vulcan Gallery, Lorton, VA
Incarceration: Visions of Confinement, McGuire Woods Gallery: SoloSpace, Lorton, VA
Exhibition with the Artists in Residence from the Kunstverein Mecklenburg Inspiriert Residency, Kunsthalle Ostseebad Kühlungsborn, Kühlungsborn, Germany
2012 All at Once, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Painting Ain’t Dead, Gallery 817, Philadelphia, PA
The Italian Way: A Response to Italian Arts & Culture, Gallery 224, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Work in Progress, Hamilton Hall, Philadelphia, PA
2010 WIP, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Artomatic 2009, Washington, DC
Exhibitions Curated
2011 6:6, Hyper-Space, West Collection, Oaks, PA with Harry Hukkinen
