Biography
1962–1984
Brazil and England
Born in Bahia, Brazil, also lives in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
Moves to England 1966, family homes in 
Lavenham, London and Portugal
Suffolk New College, Foundation Diploma Art and Design, 1981
Manchester Metropolitan University, BA (Hons) Design for Communication Media (film, television and graphic design), 1984,
Commendation in Liberal Studies (art history, psychology, sociology)
1984–1988
London
Moves to London, lives in Fitzrovia, Hammersmith and Clapham, works in graphic design
Lives in Los Angeles and Portugal for a year, paints and works in television
Returns to London, works in graphic design, paints and makes Super 8 films, including found footage,
shown at Royal College of Art and Legends nightclub, Mayfair
1988–1994
Los Angeles
Moves to Los Angeles, lives in Hollywood, Studio City and Burbank, paints and makes sculptures, works in film and graphic design
First one-artist exhibitions at AWGO Productions, Los Angeles and Solis, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989, 1990
Lives in Santa Fe and La Puebla, New Mexico for a year
Establishes James Westwater Recycled Materials, makes design objects including furniture and home accessories,
pieces sell as far afield as Italy and Japan, and feature in Tweeds and Greenpeace catalogs
Sculptures shown at Greenpeace, West Hollywood, 1993
Kathy Bryant, "Collected Thoughts," Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1993
One-artist exhibitions at LA Art, Encino and Lulu's Alibi, Los Angeles, 1994
1994–1998
New Mexico, early work
Moves to Santa Fe, will live on West Side for 12 years
Group exhibitions at Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica and Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, 1995
Two-artist exhibition at Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York and one-artist exhibition at Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Galisteo, 1996
Aline Brandauer, "James Westwater at Linda Durham," Art in America, October, 1996
Artist-in-residence and one-artist exhibition at OffSite, Santa Fe, 1997
Co-founds Art Pod, four-artist collective that exhibits in Santa Fe and Taos until 1999
Group exhibitions at Ahra Lee Gallery, New York and SITE Santa Fe, 1997
Produces series of monoprints at SITE Santa Fe, 1997
1998–2005
New Mexico, mature work
Group exhibitions at Thesaurus, London and Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York, 1998
New Mexico Museum of Art purchases Pod piece, 1999
Receives Santa Fe Art Institute scholarship to participate in Pat Steir Studio Workshop, 1999
Group exhibitions at Kiron Espace, Paris and James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, first time Corners paintings shown, 1999
Receives Robert Rauschenberg Change Inc. grant, 2001
One and three-artist exhibitions at Helix Fine Art and James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, first time Ovals paintings shown, 2001
2003
Four-person exhibition at Museum of Art Fort Collins, Colorado
Co-founds Peace Show, Artists Resistance Movement
Co-organizes Peace Show anti Iraq War exhibitions at 25 galleries and other spaces in Santa Fe
Curates Peace Show at Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe
Produces series of prints with Santa Fe Editions
2004
One-artist exhibitions at Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe and Rule Gallery, Denver and three-artist exhibition at Phil Space, Santa Fe
Group exhibitions at Rule Gallery, Denver, The Suburban, Chicago, Lothringer Dreizen, Munich, Max Fish, New York and Cream, London
Receives Santa Fe Art Institute scholarships to participate in Komar and Melamid and Richard Tuttle Studio Workshops
and Peter Schjeldahl Critical Writing Workshop
Aline Brandauer, Jon Carver, 3-D Art/Techné, University of New Mexico Press, pp. 9, 13, 15, 17, 46–51
Sarah S. King, "James Westwater at Klaudia Marr," Art in America, June/July
Florian Siedel, "Spacemakers," Bauwelt, September
2005–2012
New York
2005
Moves to Beacon, New York, converts 100-year-old school gymnasium into home and studio
One-person 10-year retrospective exhibition at Rule Gallery, Denver
Michael Paglia, "Artbeat," Westword, February 3
Receives scholarship to participate at Art Santa Fe, first time lightboxes shown
Lannan Foundation purchases piece from Exhibitions 2d, Marfa, Texas
2006
Group exhibitions at NavtaSchulz Gallery, Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Exhibitions 2d, Marfa
Seb Grant producer/director, Artland USA, Series One, Episode 7, presented by Charlie Luxton and Mame McCutchin,
Illuminations Films, Sky Arts, UK and Gallery Channel, US, first aired November 23
Rima Suqi, "Gallery Hopping in Marfa," New York Magazine, October 11
Museum Art.Plus, Donaueschingen, Germany purchases series of paintings from NavtaSchulz Gallery, Chicago
2007
One-artist sculpture and painting exhibition at NavtaSchulz Gallery, Chicago, first time Plywood Chateaux shown
Group exhibitions at Threewalls Gallery, Chicago, Cinemaland, Los Angeles and Exhibitions 2d, Marfa
Steven Evans, Zane Fischer, Ryan Schulz, James Westwater: Plywood Chateaux, NavtaSchulz Gallery
Lloyd Alter, "James Westwater's Plywood Chateau," TreeHugger, September 21
2008
One-artist sculpture and painting exhibition at Van Brunt Gallery, Beacon, first time Blue Boy paintings shown
Elaine Louie, "Chateau: The Condensed Version," New York Times, June 5
Homeless Chateau shown at Hudson Beach Glass, Beacon
Participates in Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop (PDP), New York
Founds The Vs culture club, Beacon
2009
Group exhibitions at Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, Van Brunt Gallery, Beacon and Hudson Beach Glass, Beacon
Lloyd Alter, "Homeless Chateau: A Little Privacy," TreeHugger, January 15
"Your Flat-pack or Mine?" Times (UK), April 13
2010
One and two-artist exhibitions at Van Brunt Gallery and Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, first time postcard paintings and wall installations shown
Alex Johnson, Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution, Frances Lincoln, pp. 58, 59, 120, 122
"James Westwater: Postcards and Matchboxes," New York Times, Metropolitan section, July 18
2011
Group exhibitions at Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque and School of Jellyfish, Beacon
Virginia Sole-Smith, "Schoolhouse Rocks," ReadyMade Magazine, December/January issue, cover article
Keeps a top floor apartment and studio in a historic tenement in Kips Bay, Manhattan for a year
2012–2017
Texas, Portugal, Ireland and Iceland
2012
Enrolls in MFA Visualization program at Texas A&M University, College Station where also teaches art and design from 2012 to 2013
Designs Westwater tartan, inclusion in Scottish Registry of Tartans, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh
Awarded Arthur Harris Best in Show in FAR & WIDE at Woodstock Artist's Association and Museum, New York,
juried by David A. Ross, first time Drift shown
Certificate of Completion Teacher Training, Texas A&M University
One-artist exhibition at Projects on Ashburn, College Station
2013–2017
Artist-in-residence at Foundation OBRAS, Evoramonte, Portugal, 2013
Enrolls in PhD Architecture program at Texas A&M University, 2013
Artist-in-residence at Fire Station Artists' Studios, Dublin and Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd, Iceland, 2014
Inducted as member of Tau Sigma Delta Honors Society in Architecture and Allied Arts, 2014
One-artist exhibition at Mad Dooley Gallery, Beacon, first time Edges shown, 2014
Artist-in-residence at Foundation OBRAS, Evoramonte and one-artist exhibition at Evoramonte Castle, Portugal, 2015
Andrea Weber, "Nes Artist Residency," Skagaströnd Review (Paris), March, 2016
Academic Excellence Award, Texas A&M University, 2016
Receives PhD in Architecture, Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis, Oak Trust, Texas A&M University, 2017
2017–2019
Cornell University
Teaches Art+Science course in the Department of Human Centered Design, Cornell University
Rebecca Roake, Mobitecture: Architecture on the Move, Phaidon, p. 191, 2017
Guest lecturer, Department of Fashion Design and Management, Cornell University, 2018
One-artist exhibition at Martha Van Rensselaer Gallery, Cornell University, 2018
Group exhibitions at Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd, Catalyst Gallery, Beacon, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum
and Inlet Valley Arts Center (EyeVee), Ithaca, 2018
2019–present
Washington, DC
2019
Moves to Washington, DC, teaches drawing in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Guest reviewer in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, UMD
Paintings installed at Grayhaven/EyeVee, Ithaca, ongoing
Smith Schwartz, "Jodi and Ryan's Immaculate Whimsy," Apartment Therapy, December 19
Returns to Edges paintings after a break of several years
2020
Receives Teaching Innovation Grant, with Drs. Byoung-Suk Kweon and Naomi Sachs, by UMD's Office of the Provost
Creates Land Art class and curates At Home and Elsewhere: Land Art Under Lockdown, PSLA, UMD
Marcina Garner, "Through the Lens of Art: LARC Professor Dr. James Westwater Talks Art....," PSLA Newsletter, UMD, July 14
2021
Teaches Land Art class for second year and curates Spiral Found: Land Art under Lockdown II, PSLA, UMD
Samantha Watters, "UMD Students... Online Exhibition, Spiral Found: Land Art Under Lockdown II," AGNR News, UMD, July 27
2022
MFA committee member, Department of Art, UMD
Teaches Land Art class for third year and curates Notes from the Underground: Land Art Under Lockdown III, PSLA, UMD
Graham Binder, "Landscape Architecture Students Present Special Land Art Exhibit," AGNR News, UMD, May 6
Declines to renew teaching contract with UMD and returns to Ovals paintings after a break of several years
2023
Group exhibition Hver er Munurinn, curated by Birta Dögg Bessadóttir, University of Iceland, Reykjavik
Establishes private collection, Museum of Ground Plane Objects (MOGPO), Washington, DC,
part of land art practice of finding objects while walking, previously explored and developed in Portugal, Iceland, etc.
Painting practice returns to Corners and Edges and continues with Ovals
2024
Paintings shown at Manse, first public exhibition in Washington, DC
Begins to bag MOGPO finds by calendar quarter and explores new configurations for Corners, Ovals and Edges
Returns to use of ornate and gilt frames for first time since Blue Boy and Pinkie paintings, circa 2008
Group exhibitions include Transcendence, Honorary Chairs Mera and Don Rubell, Rubell Museum,
American University Katzen Arts Center, for Transformer, Washington, DC
Lannan Foundation gifts Home Before Dark (2001), purchased 2005, to New Mexico State University Art Museum, Las Cruces
Stacy Alexander, "The Art of James Westwater: A Journey Through Form and Line," Substack, October 17
2025
Artist-in-residence at Church Farm, Norfolk and Belmont House, Shetland, United Kingdom
Coastal Norfolk and Shetland residencies mark a return to Edges land art project, previously in Portugal, Ireland and Iceland
MOGPO daily practice extends to intertidal zone
Ronda Kaysen, "Housewares Retailers Brace for Tariffs," main and last photos, New York Times, April 15