Biography
Brazil and England 1962–1984
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)
London 1984–1988
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 experimental films
Super 8 films, including found footage, shown at Royal College of Art and Legends nightclub, Mayfair
Los Angeles 1988–1994
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 (JWRM), makes design objects including furniture and home accessories
JWRM pieces sell in US, Italy, 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 LA Art, Encino and Lulu's Alibi, Los Angeles, 1994
New Mexico, early work 1994–1998
Moves to Santa Fe, will live on West Side for 12 years
Group exhibitions include 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 exhibits in Santa Fe and Taos until 1999
Group exhibitions include Ahra Lee Gallery, New York and SITE Santa Fe, 1997
Produces series of monoprints at SITE Santa Fe, 1997
New Mexico, mature work 1998–2005
Group exhibitions include Thesaurus, London and Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York, 1998
New Mexico Museum of Art purchases Pod piece, 1999
Santa Fe Art Institute scholarship to participate in Pat Steir Studio Workshop, 1999
Group exhibitions include Kiron Espace, Paris and James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, first time Corners paintings shown, 1999
Who's Who in American Art, Marquis, 1999
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 include Rule Gallery, Denver, The Suburban, Chicago, Lothringer Dreizen, Munich, Max Fish, New York and Cream, London
Santa Fe Art Institute scholarships to participate in Komar and Melamid, Richard Tuttle and Peter Schjeldahl Workshops
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
New York 2005–2012
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
Art Santa Fe scholarship, first time lightboxes shown
Lannan Foundation purchases piece from Exhibitions 2d, Marfa, Texas
2006
Group exhibitions include NavtaSchulz Gallery, Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Exhibitions 2d, Marfa
Seb Grant (dir.), Artland USA (S1, Ep.7), Illuminations Films, Sky Arts (UK) and Gallery Channel (US), 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 include 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 include 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 include Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, School of Jellyfish, Beacon
Virginia Sole-Smith, "Schoolhouse Rocks," ReadyMade Magazine, December/January issue, cover article
Keeps top floor apartment and studio in historic tenement in Kips Bay, Manhattan for a year
Texas, Portugal, Ireland and Iceland 2012–2017
2012
Enrolls in MFA Visualization program at Texas A&M University, College Station, teaches art and design there 2012–2013
Designs Westwater tartan, Scottish Registry of Tartans, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh
Arthur Harris Best in Show, FAR & WIDE, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (WAAM), first time Drift paintings 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, Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd, Iceland, 2014
Tau Sigma Delta Honors Society in Architecture and Allied Arts, 2014
One-artist exhibition at Mad Dooley Gallery, Beacon, first time Edges paintings 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
PhD in Architecture, Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis, Oak Trust, Texas A&M University, 2017
Cornell University 2017–2019
Teaches Art+Science course in 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 include Nes Artist Residency, Catalyst Gallery, WAAM and Inlet Valley Arts Center (EyeVee), 2018
Washington, DC 2019–2026
2019
Moves to Washington, DC, teaches drawing in Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Guest reviewer, 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 break of several years
2020
Teaching Innovation Grant with Drs. Byoung-Suk Kweon and Naomi Sachs, awarded 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
Leaves UMD and returns to Ovals paintings after break of several years
2023
Group exhibitions include 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, walking, found objects, developed in Portugal, Ireland and Iceland
Returns to Corners and Edges paintings, continues with Ovals
2024
Paintings shown at Manse, first public exhibition in Washington, DC
Begins to bag MOGPO finds by calendar quarter, explores new configurations for Corners, Ovals and Edges
Returns to use of ornate and gilt frames, first time since Blue Boy and Pinkie paintings, circa 2008
Group exhibitions include Transcendence, American University Katzen Arts Center, for Transformer, Washington, DC
Honorary Chairs Mera and Don Rubell, Rubell Museum
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," In Focus, Substack, October 17
2025
Artist-in-residence at Church Farm, Norfolk and Belmont House, Shetland, United Kingdom
Coastal Norfolk and Shetland residencies mark return to Edges land art project, previously Portugal, Ireland and Iceland
Extends MOGPO daily practice to intertidal zone
Group exhibitions include Dis/comfort in the North, curated by Katie Ione Craney, University of Alaska Fairbanks Art Gallery
New paintings at Manse, Washington DC
Ronda Kaysen, "Housewares Retailers Brace for Tariffs," New York Times, April 15 (featured photography)
Donna Leanos, "Le Decor: Georgetown," Georgetowner, July 16
Creative West, "James Westwater," Public Art Archive
Return to England 2026
New seascapes at Manse, first time Panels paintings shown
Moves back to Suffolk after 45 years, Aldeburgh and Snape area, bags first month of coastal Suffolk MOGPO finds
Return to core concepts of 2017 dissertation, Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis
Employs Suffolk ground plane objects (GPOs) as stencils for paintings, to be shown in 2027 anniversary exhibition, Place-Back
Both 2017 theoretical project and 2026 material execution rely on spatial methodology formulated by James Westwater (PhD, 2017)